Early years reform critical to supporting Tasmanian women back into work

After 13 years of the Liberals, Tasmanian women are still being held back by a system that does not give families the support they need.

New ABS data on barriers to labour force participation have again highlighted what too many Tasmanian women already know: access to affordable early learning and care is a major barrier to getting back into work or increasing their hours.

48 per cent of women cited caring for children as the main reason they were unable to work, despite wanting to – up from 37 per cent last quarter.

The latest jobs data shows Tasmania’s female participation rate is 57.1 per cent, which is the worst in the country, and more than 5 percentage points below the national average.

This is a stark reminder that Tasmania cannot fix its workforce participation problem without making early learning and care more accessible and more affordable.

Labor’s plan to deliver five days of kinder in every public school, and universal access to pre-school for three-year-olds is exactly the kind of practical reform Tasmania needs.

Five days of kinder will reduce the need for additional childcare, ease pressure on household budgets, and make it easier for women to return to work or increase their hours if they choose.

Universal access to pre-school for three-year-olds will give families more affordable options, free up places in long day care, and help remove one of the biggest barriers keeping women out of the workforce.

If Tasmania is serious about lifting participation, addressing underemployment, and growing the economy, we need to remove the barriers that are keeping women out of the workforce.

Labor’s plan does exactly that.