OREANDA-NEWS. Across Australia, the affordability of childcare remains an obstacle for families according to NAB’s latest Work & Family Survey on caring for children.

While almost two-thirds of Australian families rate their access to local childcare as ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’, more than a quarter of families believe the cost of childcare outweighs the value of working and only a third are breaking even.

NAB Group Executive Michaela Healey called on Australian business and government to continue looking at ways to support Australian families raising children and increasing workplace flexibility.

“We understand the pressure points for Australian families and our research is showing that access to affordable childcare is a problem for a lot of Australian families,” Ms Healey said.

“We know that access to affordable childcare plays an important role for parents returning to work and helping them achieve their career goals and ambitions.

“It also assists their financial wellbeing and ensures our workforces are vibrant, more engaged and leading to improved productivity and reduced absenteeism. This is critical to economic prosperity in this country.

“To assist with that, at NAB we have a range of policies to aid our employees with their lifestyle including a number of flexible working arrangements to assist parents with drop-offs, pick-ups or working from home when they need to make life easier,” Ms Healey said.

NAB’s Head of Behavioural & Industry Economics Dean Pearson said that an increasing number of couples expect to change their work arrangements to assist caring for their children.

“Both parents in around one in three relationships plan to take parental leave and both parents in around one in six relationships are also planning to work flexible hours and work more from home to assist with caring for children,” Mr Pearson said.

“This is consistent with a strong desire expressed by men to spend more time with their children and caring for them in their early years,” he said.

Hear from Michaela Healey here:

Hear from Dean Pearson here: