Australia to unveil A$1.7 billion childcare fund in upcoming Budget

Australia’s budget, which will be unveiled next week, will include a childcare fund worth A$1.7 billion (US$1.3 billion), according to Treasury Minister Josh Frydenberg. 

“The Morrison government has made significant progress in boosting female workforce participation as well as narrowing the gender gap,” he said, reports Bloomberg.

 “But there is still a long way to go. And that’s why we are making today’s investment.”

Under the new policy, the current annual cap of A$10,560 (US$8,176) per child on child care subsidies will be removed, and instead increased to a maximum of 95% for families with two or more children.

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With this, the government hopes it can “add up to 300,000 hours of work per week which would allow the equivalent of around 40,000 individuals to work an extra day per week and boost the level of GDP by up to $1.5 billion per year,” he said in a statement. 

“These changes strengthen our economy and at the same time provide greater choice to parents who want to work an extra day or two a week,” Frydenberg added.