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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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MNHQ

MNHQ here: anything you'd like to tell your MP about your experiences with using childcare?

32 replies

RowanMumsnet · 30/11/2020 13:17

Hello

There's going to be a debate on 'early years provision and nursery settings' in Westminster Hall this coming Thursday at 3pm - and we thought some of you might like to encourage your MPs to take part.

(There's not much online about the debate yet but you can see the listing on the Parliament website here.)

It's a good opportunity to flag to your MP any particular issues you've had (COVID-related or otherwise) with paid childcare.

Perhaps you find childcare extremely expensive - maybe the cost made you think twice about going back to work after taking maternity or other parental leave. Lots of discussion on Mumsnet suggests parents find the government's free childcare hours difficult to fit into a broader childcare schedule. And we've also seen quite a lot of posts about the gap between the point where mothers (or dads, if they take a longer paternity leave) usually go back to work, and the point when the 'free' childcare hours kick in.

And of course, you may have been very much affected by the unavailability of childcare during lockdown earlier this year.

You may also have positive experiences you want to share, of course Grin And nursery owners/workers may well want to contact their MPs too (we're not completely sure whether childminders fall under 'early years settings' - let us know if you know the answer.)

If you'd like to contact your MP to share your thoughts with them and ask if they can represent you in the debate, that would be great - and as ever please post here to let us know what you think, too.

Thanks
MNHQ

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Sparkles715 · 30/11/2020 22:06

I’m a nursery owner and a parent. I find quite odd that there’s a huge jump to 30 hours funding at age 3. There should be help for parents of younger children who are working too. I would prefer to see 15/20 hours funding from age 1 for working parents. This would help people remain in work after having a baby.

Hardbackwriter · 30/11/2020 21:26

Of course I don't love spending a huge chunk of my income on nursery fees but I'm really wary of any discussion about affordability that doesn't start from the premise that genuine, full government payment for the actual costs is the only 'funding extension' that is a viable option. It actually makes me really uncomfortable that the - wonderful, dedicated - woman who cares for DS gets paid so little, and I read recently that one in six childcare providers think they could go bust this year. The sector is chronically underfunded and I really don't want to see any more government initiatives where they generously give parents 'free' hours that they either have to actually pay for (which causes a lot of resentment) or the childcare setting ends up losing money for each funded hour. Because I'd like to pay less for DS's nursery, of course, but I want it to stay viable and open more.

nannynick · 30/11/2020 18:55

A discussion about "The future of nurseries and early years settings" should surely include a discussion of other provider types that parents use, as it may be having an impact on the use of early years settings.
Other types of provider: Nannies - registered and non-registered. Informal care - care provided by relatives and friends.
Au-pairs - how will changes to immigration rules affect that?

From just a title on a meeting list we don't know what they will cover but are they likely to cover all forms of childcare?

I think my MP may be fed up of me contacting him about childcare things.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 30/11/2020 16:00

Well that makes sense being that people don’t generally come forward and contribute their opinion if it’s that something is cheap and they’d like to pay more or that there is so much choice/availability that it’s causing an issue.

MNHQ
RowanMumsnet · 30/11/2020 15:10

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

Agree. Not sure why it isn’t clear if childminders count as an early years setting, there is no difference to them and a nursery.

Also a very loaded OP from you there @RowanMumsnet, maybe a more neutral approach would be fairer?

Please do contribute your thoughts Georgie - we take your point about the one-sidedness but it's based on the data we've seen about MN users' experiences over the years (cost and availability are the two things that tend to come through really strongly whenever we ask MNers about this).
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GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 30/11/2020 14:57

Agree. Not sure why it isn’t clear if childminders count as an early years setting, there is no difference to them and a nursery.

Also a very loaded OP from you there @RowanMumsnet, maybe a more neutral approach would be fairer?

anothernamechange224412 · 30/11/2020 14:30

Yes childminders are early years settings. They follow the same curriculum as nurseries and are inspected by Ofsted in the same way nurseries are.