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Out-of-pocket costs of child care (after subsidies) as a proportion of weekly disposable income, for families with one or two children in full time centre-based Long Day Care, by gross annual family incomes, NSW and Australia, 2001–2006

New South Wales
		One child in care					Two children in care
		2001	2002	2003	2004	2006	2001	2002	2003	2004	2006
Annual income	$27000	10.1	11.3	12.0	14.8	9.8	16.1	18.3	19.6	24.6	18.4
	$35000	10.5	11.4	10.8	14.4	9.3	16.8	18.4	17.7	24.0	16.0
	$45000	11.4	12.2	12.5	14.9	9.9	18.7	20.3	20.8	25.3	16.2
	$55000	11.8	12.5	12.9	14.7	10.3	19.1	20.5	21.1	24.9	16.8
	$65000	12.2	12.8	13.1	14.7	10.3	19.5	20.7	21.3	24.6	17.2
Australia
		One child in care					Two children in care
		2001	2002	2003	2004	2006	2001	2002	2003	2004	2006
Annual income	$27000	8.6	9.5	10.0	12.3	8.4	13.5	15.2	16.0	20.0	14.7
	$35000	9.2	9.8	8.9	12.1	8.0	14.4	15.5	14.4	19.8	13.2
	$45000	10.3	10.8	10.9	12.9	8.7	16.6	17.7	17.9	21.5	14.1
	$55000	10.9	11.3	11.5	13.0	9.2	17.3	18.3	18.6	21.7	14.9
	$65000	11.4	11.8	11.9	13.3	9.3	17.9	18.8	19.1	21.8	15.4

Notes: Disposable income calculations are based on such things as social security rates, Child Care Benefit and taxation parameters. Calculations are modelled on dual income couple families (60:40 income split) with one or two dependent children aged under 5 years.

Average weekly amount paid assumes full-time (50 hours per week) child care used by each child.

The Australian Government Census of Child Care Services has been conducted regularly since 1986, with the last three censuses held in 2002, 2004 and 2006.  A sample survey was used for 2003. There was no data collection of any kind in 2005. The estimates collected from sample data will be subject to sampling error, which can affect comparisons between them and the census results.

Sources: Report on Government  Services 2008, Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision, Report on Government  Services 2005, Productivity Commission, Canberra; Report on Government Services 2004, AusInfo, Canberra; Report on Government Services 2003, AusInfo, Canberra; Report on Government Services 2002, AusInfo, Canberra; Report on Government Services 2001, AusInfo, Canberra; Report on Government Services 2000, AusInfo, Canberra.

Comment

Families in NSW spent a higher proportion of their income on Long Day Care than families in Australia as a whole, and this is particularly the case for lower income families.

In 2006, out-of-pocket child care expenses for long day care were higher in NSW than for Australia as a whole.  The impact of this was felt differentially by families depending on their household income levels.  For example, the out-of-pocket expense of long day care for families in the two lowest income groups were, on average, 20% higher in NSW than for Australia as a whole.  This percentage decreased for the three higher level income groups with an average difference of 13% in NSW than for Australia as a whole.