Australia does not care about care
Australia seems to have a dearth of care about care. The work of caring for people is of utmost importance to our society, as the pandemic has made even more clear. Hospital workers, childcare educators and teachers were abruptly noted as essential workers. Yet the pay, conditions and time allotted to those who reliably care for those in our society who require it remains low or zero. Within education, Union-adjacent research has noted that Higher Education and Early Childhood are the two most precarious settings, places where stable employment is hardest to find. Whilst women, who carry much of the caring duties have 45 percent of their jobs are part time. Within the Primary and Secondary school settings, Australia ranks above the OECD average for time spent in class, meaning that both students and teachers within these settings lack opportunities to develop their skills. For the parents of children and young people, Australia ranks second last among OECD n