Centre for Western Sydney to develop ‘stress test’ index to explore ECEC experience

The Centre for Western Sydney will pilot an index developed by researchers which will measure the stress families experience when it comes to accessing early childhood education and care in diverse communities with the aim of developing ways to better address their needs.

The research team, led by the Centre’s Dr Angela Smith and its Director Dr Rhonda Itaoui, have secured a prestigious 2024 Policy Challenge Grant from the James Martin Institute for public policy to advance the project, which is known as Developing a place-based childcare stress index.

The project aims to support the government to measure the accessibility and affordability of formal ECEC and the degree of financial stress childcare costs place on families.

By accounting for local spatial barriers like poor transport connectivity researchers hope the index will provide policymakers with a critical tool to measure the ECEC stress experienced among diverse communities, guiding reform and investment in this sector.

“We know that the barriers to childcare affect different families and geographies in diverse ways. It’s fundamentally an equity issue,’’ Dr Smith said.

“Participation in early childhood education plays out later in educational outcomes, earning capacity and income, and ultimately in upholding intergenerational wealth disparities.’’

The research team is made up of the Centre’s Chief Economist, Professor Neil Perry (also from the School of Business), Professor Kate Huppatz, Dr Teddy Nagaddya and Dr Jenna Condie (from the School of Social Sciences), and Associate Professor Sriram Shankar from Monash University, Malaysia.

Dr Itaoui notes that the NSW Government has made a number of policy commitments towards removing barriers that prevent women from realising their workforce potential.

“These commitments have been backed up with allocations in the recent state budget for universal pre-kindergarten, fee relief for pre-school, and boosting accessibility and affordability of daycare and we want to make sure these investments are reaching the people who are under the greatest childcare stress,” she explained.

“Ultimately, we are looking to support evidence-based policy making to improve outcomes for parents, particularly those who face additional barriers to workforce participation and live in childcare deserts like western Sydney.”

Professor Andy Marks, Vice-President, Public Affairs and Partnerships and Executive Director, Centre for Western Sydney located at Western Sydney University, congratulated the team on their grant success.

“This project shows Western Sydney University’s commitment to working with the government to develop outcomes that benefit the communities that we serve on a daily basis,” Professor Marks said.

“Research is the best way to showcase what we as a university value, while being able to challenge current thinking and support our communities to achieve their best outcomes.”