Does everyone think childcare should be paid for?

I think it would be great if childcare costs were cheaper and I say this as someone without kids because why would someone choose to work when the cost of childcare for a lot of women wipes out most of their income - therefore it becomes an obvious choice for many to take time out of work.

However this issue as I see it is that there is such a gender gap in the first place - why is it women are often usually the lower earner and therefore it makes sense for them to be the ones to take the year off?

But then I also think (unpopular opinion) women feel entitled to have long time off work even after the recovery from childcare many want the time off - it often isn't about the money for a lot of women so if childcare is cheaper I'm not convinced it would encourage many more back to work that wouldn't have been in work in the first place without cheaper childcare

Harsh as it may sound to some, that is the reality.

Oh come on

It's been years, years since benefits were available for more than 2 children. Yet still people bang on about having children for benefits with the regularity of a daily mail columnist

I do however think the fees need to be assessed and the government should potentially look at ‘windfall’ taxes on providers charging over a certain amount to encourage lower fees. Or for the government to set a max fee, as they’ve gone up 40%+ in the last 10 years which is well above inflation and min wage increases

I don't have kids

I am happy to pay for subsidised child care because all too often expensive/lack of childcare forces women to stay in abusive relationships, damages their career etc

Its all very well saying children are a choice, but its a choice that impacts women and I choose to support women

What I would also like to see is more support for parents who want to stay at home for say 3 years. Bring back sure start centres, increase respite support for children with disabilities, better programs for parents looking to re enter the workforce etc

And I don't think this entirely has to be funded by the taxpayer. The reality is that currently the tax payer is funding profits for big organisations through paying universal credit to people in full time employment because they don't earn enough to live.

Legislation around salaries and profits could mean that we wouldn't have these massive cost of living crisis and people could be paid appropriately lowering the burden on the taxpayer, or leaving more money free to support all areas of society.

Perhaps there would be less sense of entitlement to help if big corporations were not currently forcing part of our workforce into needing help, in order to bolster their profits? Its not entitlement when it's survival.

We live in an ageing population so unless people are incentivised to have children the problems were seeing in nhs and social care are just going to get worse. Short term vs long term viewpoint. Yes, more subsidised childcare would cost more taxes but in 20 years time when we have no state pension and no state social care we may regret not funding childcare now.

It is in everyone's interest, including the childless/child free, to have an educated population and workforce that is why it is paid for from taxes. I see no reason why this could not include childcare where both parents choose to work and pay tax.

I don’t, but then again I’m not in the demographic where this would be helpful, I earn well and it hasn’t been a barrier to me returning to work at all.

No, I don't think childcare should be paid for. People need to either look after their own children for pay for someone else to do so. People can't just have children and expect everyone else to look after them for free. People who cannot afford childcare should receive help as with all essentials but many people can afford it.

This. Had a conversation about social carers in the home today. For info, I am in Scotland, where personal care is free to the user.

All well and good, but the carers are paid peanuts, they have to provide their own transport ( mileage rate probably does not cover costs), there are not enough people willing to do the job, and it ends up being shit for carer and caree.
Having the government oversee and pay for childcare is a race to the bottom.

Childcare should be free or at least heavily subsidised. Those who don't want their taxes to pay for it forget that it is those children that will be paying taxes to fund their health care, social care and social security. Not being able to pay for childcare means people have fewer children which means there will be fewer people in the labour market to fund the range of services that we all think we are entitled to.

Isn't there already free hours available at 2 and 3 depending on circumstances? Also those in UC get substantial help with costs. I wonder if it might lead to people having more children which I don't think we need.

I didn't day free places for 2 year old?

I understand the theory but we know from the age 3+ system that the government does not fund it properly so making the system from birth would result in more childcare providers closing and shortages of places.

I’m very conservative when it comes to the economy, but childcare and education are the only budget items I don’t begrudge big spending on. It’s the very foundation of society.

In a civilised society I think government should at least heavily subsidise childcare.
Much of the financial problems experienced presently by the generation with young dc are due to living costs requiring 2 wages.
I also believe that fathers should have to contribute 50% of childcare costs regardless of whether they remain in a relationship with the mother. It’s time we recognised that childcare is the responsibility of both parents.

Likewise you could argue that state pensions and carers/fully/partly funded care homes for the elderly should be declined because they've had 50 odd years to save to provide for their old age

I think it should be tax free though, the whole amount not capped to £8k.

If that were the case as I'd have more 30 hour funded parents working for more than the minimum 16 hours and more 2 year funded doing back to work courses and less shopping.

It's also a choice to eat to much or drink too much.

Should we deny those people free healthcare once their lifestyle catches up with them?