Preschool/kindergarten is essential to children’s learning and development and is just as important as primary school, according to most of the parents surveyed in the annual Smart Start summer survey.
Of the more than 2000 respondents, 1700 said access to one year of kindergarten/preschool is essential to improve a child's readiness for school.
Ninety-six per cent of parents believed kindergarten/preschool enhanced a child’s development at a crucial time in their lives and 94 per cent thought preschool should be seen as part of the education system, as important as primary school.
Parents were so invested in supporting education in the years before school that 87 per cent said they would be less likely to vote for a government that cut funding to kindergarten/preschool.
Of the more than 2000 people that were surveyed for the annual Smart Start Summer survey, 77 per cent were part of a working couple with one child in early learning and care for two or three days per week.
According to the survey results, the cost of care was a big issue, with 42 per cent of families saying it is ‘not affordable’, but this is a drop from 60 per cent who rated childcare unaffordable in 2017.
Smart Start’s Campaign Co-ordinator Kate Fisher said the survey results showed it was clear there was still plenty of work to do to make sure every family is ready for the changes to the childcare subsidy that come into effect on July 2.
“Although overall 64 per cent of parents said they will have enough activity to support their current or expected days of childcare, 26 per cent of respondents don’t know if they will have enough activity and critically, this rises to 35 per cent for non-working households - who are more likely to be negatively impacted by the changes,” she said.
Smart Start is a movement of more than 26,000 parents and educators fighting for quality, affordable early education for all Australian children.
The Smart Start team uses feedback from the vital Smart Start summer survey to ensure the wider community and politicians understand that more needs to be done to ensure early learning and care is affordable and accessible for all children.
You can help strengthen the campaign to ensure all children get the best possible start to their life of learning, by joining up at the Smart Start website.
Of the more than 2000 respondents, 1700 said access to one year of kindergarten/preschool is essential to improve a child's readiness for school.
Ninety-six per cent of parents believed kindergarten/preschool enhanced a child’s development at a crucial time in their lives and 94 per cent thought preschool should be seen as part of the education system, as important as primary school.
Parents were so invested in supporting education in the years before school that 87 per cent said they would be less likely to vote for a government that cut funding to kindergarten/preschool.
Of the more than 2000 people that were surveyed for the annual Smart Start Summer survey, 77 per cent were part of a working couple with one child in early learning and care for two or three days per week.
According to the survey results, the cost of care was a big issue, with 42 per cent of families saying it is ‘not affordable’, but this is a drop from 60 per cent who rated childcare unaffordable in 2017.
Smart Start’s Campaign Co-ordinator Kate Fisher said the survey results showed it was clear there was still plenty of work to do to make sure every family is ready for the changes to the childcare subsidy that come into effect on July 2.
“Although overall 64 per cent of parents said they will have enough activity to support their current or expected days of childcare, 26 per cent of respondents don’t know if they will have enough activity and critically, this rises to 35 per cent for non-working households - who are more likely to be negatively impacted by the changes,” she said.
Smart Start is a movement of more than 26,000 parents and educators fighting for quality, affordable early education for all Australian children.
The Smart Start team uses feedback from the vital Smart Start summer survey to ensure the wider community and politicians understand that more needs to be done to ensure early learning and care is affordable and accessible for all children.
You can help strengthen the campaign to ensure all children get the best possible start to their life of learning, by joining up at the Smart Start website.