Giving parents more choice on childcare
In late October I appeared on the BBC's Politics Live show to talk about changes I'd like to see in the way we approach the funding of childcare in the UK.
Following my recent contribution to a report by the Centre for Social Justice, which looks at alternative ways of using the significant amount of money the Government spends on subsidising childcare, I wanted to draw attention to some of its findings.
For example, the polling finds that most parents actually want more choice in the sort of childcare they use, and would prefer to spend more time at home in the early years but find it financially difficult to do so.
I believe passionately that childcare subsidies should be focussed on what is best for children and families, not just on encouraging as many new parents as possible back into work as quickly as possible.
The UK Government spends nearly £4 billion per year subsidising childcare for families in various forms, but the support offered is known to be confusing and challenging to access, which means take-up is lower than it should be.
In spite of the billions spent by government, UK families face some of the highest up-front costs in the OECD, spending on average 22 per cent of their income (or 51 per cent of a single person’s income) on childcare – double the average for Western economies. Further, the UK will, in the main, only provide childcare funding when it relates to formal, institutional settings that are Ofsted-registered.
The idea for a new Family Credit, proposed in the report, would give parents and carers more choice, such as being able to pay grandparents to provide childcare or to stay at home themselves to look after their children. This is similar to the model used in France and Canada, and offers a good way to support families in the vital early years. After all investing in our children is investing in our own future too.
Parents know best - giving families a choice in childcare (CSJ Report) | October 22
"For most of us, our families are more important, most meaningful and more precious than anything else in our lives. And we know that the first 1,001 days of a child’s life are absolutely fundamental to his or her future success, health and happiness.
Government should always enable family life to be fulfilling, not create barriers to it.
Sadly, for many, the costs associated with starting and raising a family – now compounded by the cost of living crisis – mean they cannot have the family life that they desire.
Whether it’s the cost of energy, the cost of housing, or the cost of food, most couples in Britain now feel they need two incomes to make ends meet. That’s one reason that in recent years there has been so much attention on Britain’s highly expensive childcare system.
Solutions usually focus on reducing costs through more subsidy, or changing ratios so care providers can take more children at a time. But we know that in the early years, the best option for most children is to be cared for at home with a loving parent, grandparent or other relative – and that’s what more than half of families do. Why is it that government will support families to place children in nurseries, but not to provide care themselves? And has anyone asked parents what they feel would help them most?
In this landmark survey of over 2,500 respondents, the Centre for Social Justice in partnership with Public First have done just that.
The results are compelling – 78 per cent of parents with young children say they would like to spend more time with their children, but cannot afford to, and a clear majority of the public think helping parents to spend several months with a new child should take priority over hastening the return to work.
It’s time that we placed choice at the heart of our childcare policy. By a margin of 61 per cent to 33 per cent, parents would support a flexible childcare ‘budget’ – as provided in other countries such as Canada and France – to choose how to spend themselves. Why not repurpose our existing £4 billion childcare support budget and let parents decide how to use it? And why not recognise family and children in our tax system?
No family should lose out because of how they decide to balance childcare and work. Government policy should reflect what voters and families want, and now we have a clear idea of what that is." Miriam Cates MP
