Alkimos contains 6 Long Day Care centres (486 places) and 5 OSHC facilities (343 places). With no preschool/kindergarten services observed in the area (such services generally provided within schools in WA), only long day care, the ratio of children per place for the under 5 age group is 2.6 - placing the area below the national average for supply per child. With projected population growth of 59.4% between now and 2041, and 53.7% in the under 5 age group in particular, 278 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. As well as this projected growth, other drivers of note in the area are high female labour force participation of 71.6%.
In assessing child care markets local school supply is a particularly important factor, given school-run convenience, and enrolment vs child care place analysis can provide useful insight into capacity both for parents seeking child care options and child care operators assessing opportunities in an area. The catchment sees a level of school enrolment relative to population of 31.5 per 100 residents with 4,663 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This notably elevated rate of school supply suggests many students travel to the area from beyond the immediate surrounds, typically amplifying local childcare demand given school-run proximity. As expected, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is also higher than average. Rather unsurprisingly, out of school hours child care - serving school age children - was found to be much more abundant than other service types in the area. Fee analysis shows high fees are observed relative to national benchmarks. Another finding worth noting is the low level of commercial activity in the area and assessment of local working populations which suggest many of the local population commute elsewhere for work with nearby services potentially taking some pressure off local child care centres.
1 school catchment intersects Alkimos (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which 2,955 children aged under 5 reside, served by 675 LDC and preschool places. The demand-to-supply ratio for this catchment is 4.4 children per place.