Australia is known as the “lucky country”. So how did struggling to access affordable childcare become the norm? Amid a cost-of-living crunch, most families say they need two incomes to make ends meet. But with childcare fees in Australia being among the highest in the world, parents are caught in a “cost of working trap”: they can’t afford not to work, but the cost of care is so high it eats into their earnings.

The impact on all working families is devastating, but it’s mums who lose out the most. When childcare is too expensive, they’re more likely than dads to return to work part-time (or in insecure “flexible" roles), at lower salaries, and later than they'd like. The sky-high costs of childcare also directly impact women’s economic security, career progression and happiness – and fuel the gender pay gap and gender super gap, as well as homelessness later in life.

In this debut episode of “At What Cost?”, join host Georgie Dent as she speaks with parents and experts to examine the true cost of childcare in this country … and learns why – when Australia could be world-leading in setting children and families up to thrive – it’s instead lagging behind comparable countries.

• At What Cost is an FW podcast in partnership with The Parenthood, a not-for-profit with a mission to make Australia the best place in the world to be a parent and raise a child. Join 80,000 other parents and carers today
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