Is extending 30 hours childcare to parents on benefits fair?

[GimmieABreakOr3]

30 free hours of childcare to those in receipt of benefits is not fair.

Currently, the 30-hour childcare scheme requires parents to be in work to qualify. However, the UK Education Secretary has called for this to be extended to parents on benefits.

Many argue that those who are unemployed don’t need childcare. I agree. How is it fair that those of us in work are always propping up those who are not? It’s proper two tier Britain if you ask me when it comes to those in work compared to those who are unemployed and on welfare. I think Labour are ruining this country.

Haven’t read your image but I can see an argument for getting those kids into education sooner / if the parents don’t work - what is the most common reasons?

I think it might help when the children all go to school to have them on a more equal footing…
But agree with concerns about who is going to fund all of this.

But school is different to nursery is it not? I did not go to nursery.

I was thinking it might help with potty training, speech and language and most importantly it’s 30 hours off screens and devices.

I assume the aim is to give those children a better start in life.

Is it necessarily?! Not all children at that age are on screens and devices, and not necessarily for 30 hours. That seems a bit exaggerated.

If you think of the reasons that parents might be on benefits, ie ill health, caring responsibilities etc, it seems like a very good thing that their children can access early years education.

I don't understand why they (the Govt) keep announcing new policies when there is about to be a change of leader. Shouldn't there be a moratorium until AB, and his new Ministers, are in power?

It's not for the parents it's for the kids I presume.
There's lots of reasons why people may be on benefits and not working but if someone is ill equipped to parent, in poverty, illiterate or struggling with their own mental and physical health the children's needs might best be met with more hours in childcare to give them a better start in life.

I think it's ridiculous.

It should be universal, if theyre giving to those on benefits, then the workers on £100k+ need access too.

If you work hard in this country you are penalised.

Parents can potty train and keep their kids off screens.

but they choose not to

And the child suffers

and grows up to be an unproductive member of society like their parents beforehand

which I am sure you don’t want

It’s quite difficult to get kids into nursery at short notice once they get a job so a lot of people don’t bother. This will make (re)entering the labour force easier.

if they’re going to do this then it should be made universal. Could it be that those not employed say that they can’t work because they’ve no childcare, so if they have childcare then there’s no excuse (disability aside).

I'll be honest and say I haven't read what's been proposed. However, I would say that I think people for example that are Job Seekers should be given help.

If I lost my job, we wouldn't get the free hours as not both in work. Can't pay fees so pull child out. Then 3/4 months later I might get offered a job but can't take it as their childcare place has been given to someone else so now I'm stuck unable to accept a job because I couldn't keep my child in nursery and not enough places. The nursery wait list where I am is a year long.

I'll be honest and say I haven't read what's been proposed. However, I would say that I think people for example that are Job Seekers should be given help.

If I lost my job, we wouldn't get the free hours as not both in work. Can't pay fees so pull child out. Then 3/4 months later I might get offered a job but can't take it as their childcare place has been given to someone else so now I'm stuck unable to accept a job because I couldn't keep my child in nursery and not enough places. The nursery wait list where I am is a year long.

I'll be honest and say I haven't read what's been proposed. However, I would say that I think people for example that are Job Seekers should be given help.

If I lost my job, we wouldn't get the free hours as not both in work. Can't pay fees so pull child out. Then 3/4 months later I might get offered a job but can't take it as their childcare place has been given to someone else so now I'm stuck on benefits unable to accept a job because I couldn't keep my child in nursery and not enough places. The nursery wait list where I am is a year long.

In my experience in primary school nursery doesn’t help with potty training. So so many children starting reception not toilet trained and when we chat to to parents we hear the same story - that they tried and nurseries kept putting their dc back into nappies ??? Apparently for reasons such as ‘they aren’t ready’ or ‘low ratios’ (so I assume they couldn’t keep taking them to the toilet / potty? )

It seems sensible for job seekers. It means single parents can go to interviews. Also the current system states you do not qualify for the hours until the term after you apply. So if you found a job at the end of April you wouldn't qualify until for the childcare until September, this leave single parents stuck.

How else do parents go to job interviews at short notice?

I think there was a single parent on here who has LCWRA and had hospital appointments which made it difficult with no help towards childcare

Marginally. 30 hrs is enough for school hrs during term time. Or 21 hrs a week if spread across the whole year.

People who need nursery in order to work end up paying quite a bit extra. And it’s also not easy to increase a child’s nursery hrs at short notice.

So it would help you into term time school hrs work, or into part time work that lines up with the hours your child is already doing.

This isn’t a comment on the policy as a whole, I just don’t think this will be a huge benefit of it.

I guess it depends on if places are “education” or “free childcare”. The government changes its mind on the daily, what they fancy valuing us as.

In our area, there aren’t enough spaces for the working parents, let alone all parents.

But don’t be under the illusion that it’s all hard workers who need the spaces currently. You only need to work 16hrs at minimum wage for 30hrs funding. There’s a massive amount of people earning £20+ an hour, doing evening and weekend shifts, then using the childcare for spa/beauty/gym days.

And surely they’ll have to remove the 100k cap, otherwise it’s just a joke.

I’m sorry, but you don’t know people’s reasons for not working. You’re making it sound like people on benefits are just lazy people sat on their bum choosing not to work. If I’m on benefits due to a disability or health condition serious enough that I can’t take paid employment then you can bet I’d be struggling running around after toddlers 24/7 without any help.
Equally, if I’ve been made redundant during maternity leave how do you expect me to get out to job interviews with no childcare?
Health visiting services are barely able to keep up with the demands placed on them, more and more children reach school age not potty trained or meeting expected milestones, so where exactly do you expect parents to get support these days? Nurseries are an important source of support for many families, working or not.

It’s very well evidenced that children of parents on benefits are disadvantaged and this is early intervention to improve educational attainment

and it will help parents get into work.