AIBU to think UK childcare for under-fives is fundamentally broken?

There is no UK system. That’s the whole point of devolution.

No, it’s you and your husband’s choice. But you’ve made childcare a female issue, which is a huge part of the problem.

The 30hrs being term time adds to the confusion I think. It made sense when it wss for the preschool year (and 15hrs).

Yes the government could afford this if they stopped wasting millions in social care for special needs teenagers. Look at this article for an example of that. Imagine how many nursery places the £2m spent on one teenager could provide. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy2vxp48y8o

Yes, this is the future for sure - the world has made it so expensive and difficult to bring up children now that people with any sense are opting out. I don’t blame them - I would too if I was younger and navigating the world as it is today. And then we keep getting incredulous newspaper articles scratching their heads over why the birth rates could possibly be going down so much!

I agree OP. Slightly depressingly my daughter turned 3 and we finally got the subsidised hours just as every child was going to get it from 9 months. We spent £1200pcm for literally years for 4 days a week childcare. They loved nursery thank god!
Im not sure what the solution is. Currently we all expect the government to subsidise absolutely everything- childcare, social care, farmers, cost of living etc. given the ration of tax payers etc it’s just not working. It’s a symptom of a failing system

When we had two in full time nursery a few years ago, it cost us £50k a year.

Yes, the system is broken.

It is broken - you're right. I find it baffling that most parents have 30 'free' hours and yet they're still paying more to the nursery each month than the cost of their mortgages, while most of the staff are on minimum wage and the care the DC receive is hardly great with a ratio of 1:8. It just doesn't compute. There are clearly people getting rich somewhere along the line.

I'm a childminder and charge nothing like that. There are cheaper childcare options and parents should shop around. Consumables are optional and parents should vote with their feet.

I think you should pay for children you choose to have and childcare workers should be paid a proper wage and receive high quality training.

£16 a day for consumables is ridiculous though-£6 would be more accurate.

I don't think it's realistic to expect the taxpayer to provide free universal childcare - it is already heavily subsidised. I do support cracking down on the extra charges, though. I also don't understand why childcare costs aren't tax deductible - they should be imo.

Aibu to think the system is broken and the government should fund universal childcare until school?

But yes, you are unreasonable to think this.

Your choice to have children. Your choice to use nursery. You aren’t paying the full cost and the rest of us shouldn’t be expected to pay your contribution as well.

Well, you get much more of a subsidy than parents in Wales do currently. There is no “uk childcare” as it is devolved.

With 30 free hours, we pay approx £400 a month for 4 days a week with a childminder. I wouldn’t touch a nursery. Far too expensive. We provide all food and nappies / wipes.

there needs to be an overhaul- have a look at other countries and see what works, what’s affordable and what isn’t

What does the government subsidy provide? On the radio this morning a journalist who has been investigating it said a nursery is on average £1.10 an hour per child down based on what they are given. That doesn’t include consumables. And in expensive areas it will be far higher

and then the NI change and minimum wage increases will have hit childcare hard - particularly getting rid of the lower limit for NI

so it needs a proper review and all aspects considered - not just piecemeal

Its complex. Nurseries are private buisnesses. They have to pay wages and national insurance for staff... tbats the admin staff, cleaners, the chef, the handyman etc, not just the carers. Then the property costs... rent/mortgage, council tax, utilitities etc. The consumables... toys, nappies, craft, food, toilet paper...
Its not cheap. The funding is insuffient in many places.

There needs to be more State run childcare, with some of those costs removed.

Years ago, we were able to help each other out in an unregulated way. So you could pay a neighbour or friend with a similar age child a small amount. Only people who needed serious full time childcare needed to pay a serious amount, and they were earning enough to justify it.

But there were tragedies where Dc were inadequately cared for. So regulation and inspection increased, qualifications for carers, and now it takes all your pay so is hard to justify/has to be topped up by government subsidies.

I honestly don’t know the answer.

@Simonjt sound alike they have a subsided system similar to where we live.

Here it's $7 a day, subsided, government run daycares. Both my kids attended and I cannot praise it enough. Very high standards of pedagogy, food was amazing, certain academic targets to achieve etc. Loads of outdoor items, etc.