As they say, “the more the merrier”, but for many Australian working families who depend on child care, that may not be the case. Due to the costs involved, many parents are putting their family plans on hold and thinking twice about having more children.
Thankfully, the Australian government is bringing some welcome relief to low and middle income earners who are thinking of growing their families with the 2022 Enhanced Child Care Subsidy.
What is in the 2022 Enhanced Child Care Subsidy?
The recent budget overhaul sees the introduction of the Enhanced Child Care Subsidy from July 2022. This new subsidy will lift the child care subsidy rate for a family’s second and subsequent child by at least 30 percent over the subsidy rate of the first child.
The maximum subsidy is also lifted from 85 percent to 95 percent, and the annual subsidy cap for families earning more than $189,390 will be removed.
Is my child eligible for the 2022 Enhanced Child Care Subsidy?
Only the family’s second child and subsequent child under the age of six are eligible to have their child care costs covered by the increased subsidies of the 2022 Enhanced Child Care Subsidy.
This enhanced subsidy rate is to alleviate the compounding cost on the family of having more than one child in child care.
However the subsidy only applies if both the families’ first and subsequent child are in child care at the same time. If the family’s first child is already in school, or leaves for school, the second child’s subsidy rate will be reduced to the normal rate.
Nevertheless, the 2022 Enhanced Child Care Subsidy will be a huge boon for families who are planning to have more children. Still not sure how it works? Check your eligibility here.
