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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Tom McIlroy Political editor

Universal early childhood education better than baby bonus to increase Australia’s birthrate, Labor says

Jim Chalmers speaks to a group of Australian National University students before the release of the 2026 Intergenerational Report.
Jim Chalmers speaks to a group of Australian National University students before the release of the 2026 Intergenerational Report. Labor says it won’t revisit the Howard-Costello era baby bonus. Photograph: Hilary Wardaugh/AAP

Labor says better investment in early childhood education and care, such as a possible move to universal access for families, is a better way to address Australia’s declining birthrate, rejecting the need for a new “baby bonus”.

Monday’s intergenerational report showed that more Australians will be dying than being born in 40 years’ time, a point already reached by countries including South Korea, Italy, Germany and Japan.

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