Australian Families Face $36,500 Child Costs as Millennial Mothers Struggle With 2-Income Squeeze
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 27
Australian Families Face $36,500 Child Costs as Millennial Mothers Struggle With 2-Income Squeeze
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 27
Summary
$36,500 a year is now the minimum cost of raising two or more children in Australia, a burden many millennial mothers say leaves no workable way to balance jobs, childcare and family life.
New research cited in the report shows family costs have risen 134% in two decades while household income grew 102%, and women’s earnings fall an average 55% in the first five years after having children.
Time pressure compounds the financial squeeze: 54.6% of partnered mothers and 56% of single mothers with children under 15 say they are always or often rushed, according to ABS data.
That strain persists even as both parents working full-time became the most common arrangement for households with children under 15 in 2024, while women still perform nearly double men’s weekly care hours.
Researchers and parents in the report point to structural fixes—longer paid parental leave, more affordable childcare, and lower long-hours workplace expectations—arguing school schedules and work culture no longer fit two-income families.