Above 1/3 Australian babies cared for by family members: data

Australian parents are turning their back on formal child-care institutions, preferring to enlist the help of grandparents instead.

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday revealed that up to one third of children of working parents were now cared for by family members instead of at recognized child-care centers.

Of the 1.8 million children aged 0-12 years in Australia, only one quarter attended formal child care, while up to one third received informal child care from grandparents or other family members.

Patrick Corr from the ABS said those informal child-care rates were on the rise."Thirty-one percent of children received child care from a grandparent in these families (that use informal child care)," he said on Tuesday.

"Also, one-fifth of children in these families received care from a parent."

Rising costs of formal child care is thought to be one of the main reasons why grandparents and parents are increasingly providing care.

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that the cost of looking after babies and toddlers under two years was becoming prohibitive, with fees sometimes reaching as high as 140 U.S. dollars per day in affluent suburbs.

But the number of children in informal child care could be reduced, after the Australian government announced on Tuesday that it would be trialing the subsidization of nannies in Australia at a cost of 193.6 million U.S. dollars.

Social Services Minister Scott Morrison said that employers were increasingly expecting new mothers and fathers to be back at work quickly after paternity leave, meaning those who did choose to place their children in child care were faced with significant fees. Endi