Research by the Centre for Independent Studies, using data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia, found only a weak relationship between the cost of childcare and the female labour supply.
It found that while government spending on childcare from 1974 to 2007 grew by 4,000 per cent, most of the increase in spending occurred from 1990 onwards. The proportion of working women aged 25 to 44 grew by 50 per cent over the same period. However, most of the increase occurred in the 1980s.
The report, 'Childcare and the Labour Supply', also suggested that government spending had failed to rein in the cost of childcare and may even have contributed to it.
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