Labor recently announced universal childcare as part of its election platform for 2025.
The Albanese Government’s plan includes providing at least three days of subsidised childcare a week for families earning less than $530,000, as well as a $1 billion fund to help build more than 160 new childcare centres around the country.
For most families with preschool-aged children, these promises sound tantalising. And they are backed by modelling from the Productivity Commission that the cost to taxpayers would be offset by the tax yield from higher workforce participation among Australian mothers.
But would universal childcare help or hurt Australian children? After all, children are the ones who will be affected by such a policy, even though they don’t get a say at the ballot box.
This question is front-of-mind for us at Australian Christians, because we understand the inherent value of every single life, owing to our belief that all people — from the oldest to the very youngest — are created in the image of God.
The answer to this question, according to Virginia Tapscott, is that universal childcare will cause far more hurt for Aussie kids than help.
Virginia Tapscott is a stay-at-home mother, researcher, advocate, and columnist at The Australian.
Ms Tapscott unpacked a raft of research showing negative mental health outcomes for children put through institutional childcare during their critical developmental years (0 to 3). This includes increased aggression, distractibility, and other behavioural problems.
She also criticised the Albanese Government’s policy as a “tyranny of the majority”, in which a one-size-fits-all approach puts aside the individual wishes of many mothers. She pointed out research showing that a significant percentage of women would prefer to stay home with their children if offered paid leave — concerns that would be ignored if Labor wins the election.
Perhaps most importantly, Ms Tapscott argued that universal childcare does not adequately weigh the cultural value of motherhood or the intrinsic benefits of maternal care in early childhood. She warned that by institutionalising childcare, there’s a risk our society unravels the bonds of motherhood, potentially leading to lower birth rates and further economic and social issues.
In short, the government’s focus on universal childcare as an economic solution ignores the broader issues. Humans are not just economic units, and the health of a society cannot be measured in such crude terms.
Ms Tapscott argued that the role mothers play in raising their preschool-aged children is sorely undervalued, and the benefits young children derive from their care simply cannot be replaced by others, as friendly and professional as they may be.
What Virginia Tapscott shared at ARC Australia is a reaffirmation of what we believe at Australian Christians. As we have previously written, “Initiatives like extended parental leave, family-friendly work environments, and child care support can be more effectively implemented when guided by Christian values.”
There is a place for institutional childcare for families that require it — so long as the needs of children are front-and-centre.
But God has ordained families as the primary place children are to be raised and shaped into adults. As such, families must be incentivised to invest in their children directly, and mothers should certainly not be punished for deciding to stay home and raise their kids instead of working a job somewhere else.
At Australian Christians, we believe motherhood is a high calling, and that mothers deserve praise, support and encouragement for all that they do.
In truth, the debate over universal childcare is a signpost back to what really matters in the upcoming election. It is a reminder that the Christian worldview really does provide the best foundation for Australia’s political order, and that the Bible remains a steadfast guide on the issues we face even in 2024.
This is why Christians must Vote 1 for Australian Christians. It’s time for followers of Jesus to stop playing political games, and to instead discern the battle ahead and be a voice for the issues that really matter. Here at AC, Jesus is central to all that we do.
We urge you to become an AC member today, and to join us as ambassadors for Christ in a world that so desperately needs truth, hope and life.
Thank you for your support, and let’s pray for an amazing outcome in 2025!
