One-stop shops 'will ease parent stress'

Easing the stress on busy parents is one benefit of a plan to establish "one-stop shop" services for young children, the federal government says.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has outlined a vision, which he will submit to the 2020 ideas summit this weekend, that aims to bring together maternal and child health, long-day care and preschool services.

His parliamentary secretary for early education Maxine McKew says the plan has the backing of experts.

"All the experts tell us this is the way to go," she told Sky News.

"You provide that intervention early on, through the early years, and that's how you get healthy children, and I think, less stress for parents as well.

"That's one of the key things I think the PM's picking up on, that we lead pretty busy, complex lives and if you have parents who are just stressed out, that's going to flow onto their children."

Smart governments tried to make it easier for parents to live in the modern world, Ms McKew said.

"I think this is one way of doing it."

A similar service, funded by a local council, operates in Ms McKew's northern Sydney electorate of Bennelong.

"It's long-day care, it's preschool, they have services for special needs children, there's a speech pathologist on-site a couple of days a week, they provide haircuts for the kids, there's a terrific kitchen there and for a small fee a family at the end of the day can go home with a nutritious meal for the entire family.

"The one element that's missing is the infant health service and they have been trying to negotiate that with health (authorities) but there are some real barriers there.

"The sort of thing that the PM's talking about will cut through those barriers."