When Sarah Vlatko became pregnant with her first child nearly two years ago, she and her husband hadn't taken much notice of warnings from other parents about the childcare shortage.

But then Bonnie was born, her first birthday came and went, and now, as she approaches her second birthday, the family is still waiting for a childcare place to become available.

"I put her name [down] at a couple of places as a safeguard but never heard back from any of them, or it was an adamant, 'We don't have room'," Mrs Vlatko said.

This means Mrs Vlatko can only work part-time as a nurse. 

As the months drag on, she is worried her superannuation is being affected by the couple's inability to find Bonnie a childcare spot.

"My superannuation has halved because I'm working half [as many hours]," Mrs Vlatko said.

Women retiring with less superannuation than men is a common story in Australia, but now there are concerns the nation-wide childcare shortage will exacerbate that inequality.

'Brutal' super system

The superannuation system is "brutal" and fails to take into account external factors like childcare, leaving women a step behind men, according to the Grattan Institute's Joey Moloney.

"Women find it hard to return to work because there's childcare deserts," he said.

Despite outside factors influencing superannuation balances, Mr Maloney, deputy director of the institute's housing and economic security program, said the real issue was how Australia's labour force worked.

"Super is a pretty ruthless and brutal system," he said.

"It's very, very simple — it will only take the amount of money that gets put in there and the amount of money that gets put in there will come from how much money you get paid.

From July 1 next year, the federal government will pay superannuation during parental leave.

Mr Moloney said it was a positive first step, but more needed to be done.

"There's a strong in-principle case. We shouldn't overstate the impact of this because government-paid parental leave is on a pretty low wage, it's minimum wage," he said.

One creative solution

With Mrs Vlatko eager to return to work, she and her husband, Jacob, came up with an impressive schedule.

Mr Vlatko works as an engineer at a local mine, meaning his roster is seven days on, seven days off. 

Mrs Vlatko found a role allowing her to work seven days straight and have the opposite seven days off to her husband.

But she had to leave her current role and find a new one, which was no easy feat.

Broken Hill a childcare desert

It is particularly difficult for women in regional and rural areas to return to work after leave because many live in childcare deserts.

A childcare desert is when more than three families are bidding for one childcare spot.

In Broken Hill, there can be seven families vying for one position.

Mrs Vlatko is originally from Katherine in the Northern Territory but fell in love with Broken Hill when she moved there on a nursing placement.

She met her husband in 2019 and quickly decided that it was where she wanted to set up her life.

Mrs Vlatko said that as she had to work part time, her lower income had put some pressure on the couple's finances. 

"A lot of elaborate expenses we have to consider because I am not able to contribute as much as I used to," she said.

But she said she intended to look at other options to increase her superannuation balance.

Goals on hold, but there's a silver lining

The family has put their long-term financial goals and superannuation on the backburner. 

"I think we just need to be smart with our investments and look more into it when Sarah does eventually get back into full-time work," Mr Vlatko said.

The family's schedule has also meant that both parents have been able to play a more hands-on role in raising their daughter, especially Mr Vlatko, who recommends fathers consider week-on, week-off roles if possible.

"I would recommend this for other fathers, but only if it works for you and not every career path allows it," he said.

"The 12-hour days aren't for everyone."