Prominent female leaders have gathered in Canberra today to call on the federal government to support women’s economic security and gender equity by implementing two key early learning reforms.
They are urging the government to fund a 25 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators, who are experiencing the highest number of workforce vacancies on record, and remove the widely criticised child care subsidy eligibility system, known as the ‘Activity Test’.
The activity test links access to subsidised early childhood education and care to parent’s participation in labour market activities. Research has found that tens of thousands of women across Australia are restricted from participating in the workforce because of it.
Scrapping the test was also one of the key recommendations of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce
“Funding a 25 per cent pay rise for early childhood educators and removing the Activity Test would be transformative for women’s economic security; women comprise the vast majority of early childhood educators and it’s the workforce participation of women that is mostly limited by the Activity Test,” said Georgie Dent, CEO of The Parenthood.
“Around 90 per cent of early childhood educators are female and they have been undervalued and underpaid for far too long, with some earning as little as $23 an hour – that’s less than an apprentice bricklayer,” said Dent.
“This is despite many having tertiary qualifications, their work being critically valuable for child development and education and the essential nature of their work. Their influence on the life trajectory of children is immense – and their wages should reflect that.”
Ongoing negotiations indicate that a government-funded pay rise is on the cards for early childhood educators. And gender equity and early learning campaigners equally want to see the Activity Test removed.
Considering that low-income and First Nations families are more likely to miss out on childcare subsidies from the Activity Test, Dent says its “a deeply flawed policy”.
“An estimated 160,000 children from low-income households suffer the impact as a ‘double whammy’; they miss out on early education and their parents miss out on being able to earn an income,” she says.
“The government needs to support women in the upcoming federal budget by funding an early childhood educator wage rise, and getting rid of the Activity Test. The flow-on impact of both reforms would be profound.”
Along with Dent, these urgent calls for reform are backed by Independent MP Zoe Daniel, CEO of Early Childhood Australia Sam Page, former ACT Chief Minister Kate Carnell, Deputy Chair of Goodstart Early Learning Natalie Walker and former president of Chief Executive Women, Sue Morphet.
Ongoing negotiations indicate that a government-funded pay rise is on the cards for early childhood educators. And gender equity and early learning campaigners equally want to see the Activity Test removed.
Speaking in Parliament, Daniel emphasised the “wins for women” that implementing the two reforms would create.
“These measures would enable more children to access care, address the shortage of workers in the sector, enable more women to work, and boost productivity and the overall economy,” she said, posing the question: “Will the government take these wins for women in the budget?”