MPE711 Report: Childcare Benefits and Income Inequality in Australia

This report examines the distribution of childcare benefits (CCB) in Australia, focusing on whether these benefits are evenly distributed across lower, middle, and upper socioeconomic classes. The author hypothesizes that CCB is not equally accessible, particularly for lower-income families. The research utilizes primary data collection through surveys and interviews to analyze the relationship between CCB availability and income inequality. The report discusses the government's efforts to address this issue, such as promoting employment opportunities, and considers the impact of unequal access to CCB on child poverty. The conclusion suggests that due to income and education disparities, lower-income groups are often deprived of CCB facilities, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.

Whom should childcare benefits be
targeted at
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

Hypothesis
Is Childcare services equally distributed among all the three
classes that is lower class, middle class and the upper class?
Is childcare service not equally distributed among poor
class, middle class and the upper class?
Different families living in different parts of Australia want
to reap the benefits of CCB or child care benefits for the
proper health and education of their children.
However (O'Sullivan et al.2016) has suggested that there
are families that do not really get the benefits of childcare
as they often suffer from lack of awareness

Contd.
Is Childcare benefits not evenly distributed
and targeted at upper class, middle class and
lower classes?.
It must be noted it this context that though
Australian Government is taking steps to deal
with this issue there are some issues existing
in the system or among the policy makers.

Justification
Child poverty is also one of the direct impacts
or results of the improper distribution of the
CCB or the child care benefits facilities.
Many of the lower income groups have to
send their children to work because they
have to earn some money in order to keep
their families running

Contd.
Childcare benefits must be extended to those
families that have an annual income going
below the officially declared poverty line

Contd.
It must be noted at the same time, that the
Australian Government is making some
innovations in the CCB distribution.
They are trying to set up more number of
employment opportunities so that people
having the lower income can take up more
employment options and thus increase the
flow of money within their families

Contd.
‘’ Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the
measures will lead to 240,000 families
increasing their hours in paid employment,
including almost 38,000 jobless families’’
(www.abc.net.au. 2019). This is evident of the
fact that lack of enough employment
opportunities have often created added to the
lack of CCB availability among poor families

CCB facilities coverage
As opined by (Skinner, Perrin and Skelton
2016), CCB must be extended to people from
all the different classes that is upper, middle
and low income groups. It is the right of all
the people irrespective of their income to be
covered under the scope of the CCB facilities
or coverage

Data and analysis
The information will mainly be collected from
the primary sources.
Survey forms will be circulated among them
people belonging from whether from the rich
classes, the medium classes or the poor
classes
The two variables are –CCB and income
inequality among the rich, middle class and
the poor.
The data will be collected from the face to
fact e interviews with people belong from the

Interviewing
Interviewing with the participants will be
helping in knowing about the facilities that
they have actually got. This will help in
making a critical analysis of the CCB facilities
and the ways in which they have been
targeted at the three classes that is the rich,
middle class and the poor.

Contd.
Interviewing with the participants will be
helping in getting the exact information that
is essential for justifying the hypothesis and
the also for continuing with the research
analysis in the following steps
ChildFund’s development approach is
created by the Government of Australia but
often they are not evenly distributed or
targeted towards the actual group that is in
need of the same.

Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that there are
different reasons beyond the availability of
the CCB facilities among different sections of
people. Due to lack of proper education and
income the lower income groups are often
deprived from getting the CCB facilities.
Therefore efforts must be taken to deal with
this scenario in a strict manner