The Government's 20-free hours early education policy appears to be making a big difference to many family budgets.
The first national survey of parents since the free hours were implemented shows more than half of those using centres charging fees are saving more than $40 a week.
The survey, by the Council for Educational Research, received responses from more than 300 services and identified high teacher morale, greater parental involvement and reduced costs to families.
In some cases, parents said that without the free hours they would have had to take their children out of early-childhood education.
