Once children have learned how to walk and to talk, they are able to learn very quickly. This is where child care comes in. Child care for pre-schoolers, provides benefits for the child as well as the parents. By attending a preschool or kindergarten, the children are exposed to so much more than they find at home.
The Benefits of Early Learning Child Care
A good early learning centre will help kids to develop social skills with other children and with adults, while gaining the basics of the learning process. A child who attends such a centre is more likely to be able to solve problems, and is accustomed to learning, before they reach formal school. For the parents, it works out very well too. They get a little time away from looking after the child, and are able to engage in employment, earning some often, much needed extra money.
State Child Care Benefits
In Australia, many hundreds of thousands of families use child care services and are entitled to receive fifty percent of the fees paid as a government subsidy. Of course, this helps, but still leaves many families struggling to be able to cover the costs. It should be noted that new legislation is due to take effect from July 2, 2018, in the way child care subsidies are calculated. This will replace the current child care benefit, with the new child care rebate, and is designed to provide more assistance to low and middle income families.
Employer Sponsored Child Care Benefits
Australia is not yet as developed as some parts of the world in providing employer sponsored child care. Part of the reason for this is that companies in places like America, where it is much more common, tend to be significantly larger and can provide better benefits. However, increasingly companies are recognising that when they provide child care benefits to their staff, they tend to have a lot less absenteeism, have better productivity and have much less staff turnover.
Employer Provided Child Care
Employer provided child care is also growing in popularity, with companies bringing the child care in-house. One obvious and immediate benefit is that the parent only has to go to a single destination, rather than having to drop the kids off before going to work. That in itself removes a lot of stress from parents and kids alike, whether they need child care in Victoria to Western Australia. Other benefits are the child feeling reassured that mum or dad is in the same building, so the children feel much more secure. The parent can visit their child during meal breaks, or be there swiftly in case of a crisis, and engage with the other parents who also work in the same place of business.
Aside from the immediate practicality, using an employer sponsored child care service can have benefits in relation to taxation issues. When an employee uses a work-based children’s service, they are able to salary package the fees from pre-taxed dollars, which can result in an effectively lower personal income taxation bill. Companies providing support for child care is growing, whether they bring it in-house or provide subsidies to enable their staff to use other centres. This seems to be working well for everyone.
