Don’t gaslight stressed-out parents over childcare. Just fix it

April 6, 2026 — 4:30pm

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Across Australia, families with young children are under relentless pressure – financially, logistically, emotionally.

Need proof? Refer to the thousands of ferocious comments left under a recent ABC Instagram post inviting mums to share their “tips” for managing the juggle. The implication that work and raising children would be a breeze with the right hack was a red rag to a group of utterly exhausted and increasingly angry Australians.

These parents, like the 80,000 parents I’m accountable to, aren’t asking for handouts. They’re asking for recognition that raising children without tipping into financial precarity or total burnout has become a luxury. Many feel as though they’re failing; the truth is, the system is failing them.

In this economic climate, with crushing cost of living and a plummeting birth rate, supporting families in the early years is not a “nice to have”. It is core economic and social infrastructure. The problem isn’t parents. It’s the architecture. We’ve built a modern society and left out the plumbing. The fixes........

© The Sydney Morning Herald