30 hours of childcare.. will it happen?

[maybemaybeno]

I’ll preface this; I know it’s not ‘free’ and massively expensive to settings to use the government funding as it doesn’t come close to covering all costs. I used to work in nurseries & have friends who work in the early years. I know it’s term time only, so means less than 30 hours a week if spread across the year. Also aware there will likely be a top up to pay per hour.

We are TTC, for anyone who conceives around now, those babies would be just turning a year old / with their parents returning to work a couple of months before 30 free hours for all ages is proposed to come in (September 2025).

If this came in it would make a huge difference to us. We will probably only need 2 or 3 days a week maximum, so 30 free hours would pretty much absorb those costs even spread across the whole year.

Does anyone think it will or will it be one of those that gets pushed back/scrapped?

Personally I would plan for things being as they are now. I think a lot of work would need to be done before nurseries can offer it and stay afloat!

I don’t think that nurseries will have the capacity to offer these places. I wouldn’t budget for anything other than the 30 years funded after 3. We still pay just over £100 per week for 3 days childcare for our 3 year old so it’s definitely not free.

I reckon it'll be scrapped before it's started. That, or there'll be zero nurseries to choose from as they'll all go under. They're barely surviving as it is.

I can’t see it happening. I say this in your shoes as I’m expecting number 2 and it would be amazing!

I think it's highly unlikely, to be honest. The Tories want people to think it's possible, knowing that they're not going to win the next election and Labour will have to deal with the fall-out.

I suppose it might happen for low-income families? But I really doubt anyone else.

I suppose it’s the working families that are in between low income and high income that need it most though!

It won't fully cover 2 or 3 days. For a start 'stretching' it all year will be 22 hours a week. So that's just over two days. On those two days you'll pay extra for meals and sundries to cover the government shortfall. Our full time bill is £278 a week, with her 22 hours a week funded in January, it saves around £100 a week.

I certainly wouldn't bank on it as the Tory's have craftily put it forward to the point they are more likely than not to not be in power-

I can't see it happening.because there aren't enough child care providers to deliver it and I can't see anything that will change that.

Thank you! Suppose it depends on the length of day.

Well, no. It's the low income families that need it the most. Of course there will be a point where you're screwed over by not being quite low income enough to get help, but it was ever thus.

Not for nurseries but I do think more childminders may offer it - in my area childminders charge around £4.50 per hour and the current rate they get paid from the LA for the funded hours is over £4 (I checked recently!) so for a childminder they aren't losing as much as a nursery who regularly charge double that hourly rate.

This is interesting! Never realised childminders were so cheap, I’d definitely look into that

Both parents need to be in full time work in order to access 30 hrs, if only 1 parent is in full time work then it’s 15 hrs.

@maybemaybeno childminders tend to be cheaper than nurseries as we don't have quite so many overheads as they do (staff, business rates etc). Childminders (in my area and including me) also tend to allow you to tailor your hours to what you need rather than have set sessions. We also tend to accept the funded (not free) hours over lunch...though any childminder will tell you we certainly don't get a lunch break!!
For example I have 1 child do 18 hours per week with me term time only over 2 days 7.30-4.30, they don't pay any childcare costs at all. Another I care for 36 hours per week over 4 days and so they just pay 1.5 hours per day.
The downside for childminders are we will occasionally work for below minimum wage if our spaces aren't 'full'.
I work for less than minimum wage 9-3 every day except one, however my wrap around care makes up the difference as I can take 6 to school some days...and therefore earn more 7.30-9 than I do 9-3 🤦‍♀️

The Tories are unlikely to win the next election if the latest Scottish by-election results are anything to go by. Labour won't have any reason to go ahead with the proposal - it'd just end up with the Tories taking credit. So no I don't think it'll happen.

This is really good to know thank you. I think childminders are a more homely place for a little one to be, having worked in nurseries myself I’d say that kind of busy environment is more suited to 3+. Will definitely bear all that in mind. You must really love what you do - you deserve so much more! I just wish the government would fund the sector properly xx

@maybemaybeno thank you, me too! So many childminders leaving at the moment.

Where do you live OP? £4.50 sounds like a real bargain for a childminder to me, it’s more like £6/6.50 per hour round here (south East). That said, I still found it significantly cheaper than a nursery, though for me that was partly because mine offered term time only which local nurseries wouldn’t.

You may also find the length of day is not that relevant. You might think 2 10 hour days would be completely free as it’s under 22 per week. However, most nurseries won’t offer that as they’ll literally make a loss. So they’ll have rules like you can only use 6 hours a day funded and have to pay the rest yourself, or there will be a lunch break in the middle which isn’t covered by your hours which you have to pay £20 for. Or they’ll charge £10 a day for food and £5 for paints and nappies. They have to make money somehow.

to answer your original question, I don’t think it will happen. I think e tories promised it knowing they were unlikely to win the 2025 election and have to actually follow through.

@modgepodge

I'm in the Midlands where childminding is £4.50 an hour or around £45 a day
My twins childminder is highly sought after and has long wait list - she earns more than minimum wage - which is the complaint of some childminders - as she has all spaces filled. But this does give her flexibility to offer funded hours.

My eldests childminder on the other hand only really did it as she had a baby of the same age as mine I suspect so didn't have the max number of minders per week as she could have done and so complained about offering funded hours

That’s really good, I bet twins at childminder is same price as one at nursery tbh