Subjects: Families.
According to the latest official statistics there were 265,031 births last year - the highest number for more than a generation. Australia's fertility rate now is much higher than that of most countries in Europe and higher than it has been here since 1971.
There is no doubt that continuous economic growth and stability has given parents more confidence to plan for and have children. Australia has many measures which help parents when they have children including the baby bonus, family tax benefits, and generous childcare support.
On this latter issue a new report from the OECD shows that Australia provides higher cash benefits to families for childcare than other comparable countries. Fee support is available to 98 per cent of Australian parents.
In fact the OECD found the Australian Government provides about 60 cents in every dollar spent on child care and early childhood services. In Britain, the United States and Canada, parents pay the major share and governments provide about 30 cents in the dollar of the cost of these services.
And it is worth noting that the OECD report did not take into account the newly introduced tax rebate for childcare expenses worth up to $4000 a year for each child. This new report shows that Australia is on par with or well ahead of most other developed countries when it comes to the generosity of cash benefits to parents to help with their childcare costs.
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