Is working an extra day worth it?Extra Day at Work Calculator 2026-27

You, any partner, and the change

Each child, as care is booked now

Add each child in paid care, up to 4. Each is priced on their own: their age, type of care, fee, session length and days.

Is working an extra day worth it?

Often less than the pay rise alone suggests, and often still worth it. The answer depends on your combined family income, your Child Care Subsidy rate and hours, whether a care day is added too, and how much of the extra pay is left after income tax and the Medicare levy.

The calculator above runs every moving part against the same household, before and after the change, so the figure you see is the change to your household, not just the pay rise.

What one more day adds, week by week

The household change from one more workday, after tax, childcare and family payments, for a few example families using 2026-27 rates.

* This is the day that takes both adults past the activity-test line, so subsidised childcare rises from 72 to 100 hours a fortnight. That is why the fourth day can add more than the third.

Example families: a couple, the partner working full-time on $100,000 a year, one child aged 3 in long day care on the days you work (a care day added with the work day), at $152 for a 10-hour day (the Child Care Subsidy hourly cap), private hospital cover, no study loan. Your salary is pro-rata to the days you work. Your own figure will differ: use the calculator above.

Return to work calculator: going back part-time

“Should I go back three days or four?” is the same question as an extra workday, asked one day at a time. Enter the lower option as the days you work now, and the result shows what the next day adds after tax, childcare and family payments.

The first year back after a baby is different in one way: your income for that financial year mixes Paid Parental Leave, any employer leave and your return-to-work pay. That lower year income changes your Family Tax Benefit and Child Care Subsidy estimate for the year.

For the leave itself, see the Paid Parental Leave calculator. NestWise members can work the extra day out from the income and children already on their profile.

What the calculator counts

• Pay for the day added or dropped, at your current hourly rate, for the year.
• Income tax on the new income, plus the Medicare levy, plus the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) when there is no private hospital cover.
• Study loan repayment (Higher Education Loan Program, HELP) when you have one.
• Child Care Subsidy change, child by child. The activity test can change your subsidised hours, and the income test can change your rate. Both apply, and a younger child aged 5 or under can get the higher rate.
• Childcare fees when a care day is added or dropped with the work day, and the 5% of the subsidy Services Australia holds back until the end-of-year balancing.
• Family Tax Benefit Part A and Part B on the new household income.

When an extra day tends to leave more in the household

• The extra hours take both adults past the activity-test line, so the subsidised childcare hours go up.
• Combined family income sits below where Family Tax Benefit Part A starts to reduce.
• No extra childcare day is needed, for example a partner or grandparent covers it.
• Your income stays in the same tax bracket after the extra day.

When an extra day tends to leave less than expected

• Household income sits inside the Family Tax Benefit Part A income-test taper, so the extra income reduces the family payment.
• Your child goes into paid care that day at close to the full daily fee.
• The extra income crosses the Medicare Levy Surcharge threshold without private hospital cover.
• The extra income moves you into a higher tax bracket.

None of these make an extra day a poor choice on their own. They are why the household figure is often different from the pay-rise figure.