Reforms to the Commonwealth Government's Children's Services Program in the 1996 and 1997 Budgets have attracted considerable comment. Much of this comment has been predicated on the basis of a direct and causal link between changes to child care and changes in the participation of women with young children in the labour force.
Evidence of changes to the labour market participation of women is very limited. Furthermore, the relationship between the labour market participation of women and child care is complicated by a range of other influences which makes drawing simple conclusions difficult.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ABS (1998) The Labour Force Australia. Catalogue 6203.0. March 1996–February 1998, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
2.
ABS (1997) Persons Not in the Labour Force, Catalogue 6220.0. September 1996, 1997, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
3.
DH&FS (1997) Child Care Census 1997.Initial data from the Department of Health and Family Services, Canberra.
4.
Espung-AndersonG. (1996) Welfare States in Transition.Sage Publications: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
5.
McDonaldP. (1997) Gender equity, social institutions and the future of fertility. Working Papers in Demography. No. 69. Canberra: The Australian National University, Research School of Social Sciences.
