Is this a criticism of full-time working parents, and will ECE hours be reduced?
Answer
No, TOP is not criticising working parents. TOP believes parents should have the choice as to how much formal ECE they'd like their children to attend. They shouldn’t be forced into putting their children in non-family care for long hours due to other financial pressures. TOP has other policies to address, for example rising house prices, rising rent prices, quality of rental properties and fairer tax distribution. These policies aim to make living costs more reasonable for families to live modestly if they choose to invest time in the child's early years.
In particular, TOP will deliver a Universal Basic Income (UBI) of $13,000 per annum per adult and $2080 per annum per child to assist with family decisions around work. This UBI is not taken away as people return to work, unlike current benefits. TOP doesn’t tell parents how to spend their UBI, but provides them with better opportunities to make decisions for their families.