Expansion of free childcare

[Firefly2023]

I am too old to benefit from this but I do wonder if we are heading in the wrong direction. The expansion of free childcare to one and two year olds is obviously to encourage more people back to work. Is this really such a good thing for the children?

I know that women want to continue their careers and staying at home is detrimental to that. Also in current economic climate, two wages are necessary to survive in most households now, but I am concerned. I think it is a shame that children are all bundled into childcare at a young age and feel sorry for parents being pushed into work when they may prefer to stay home.

I always felt that I missed so much by going back to work very early and I regret not taking more time off in those early years. I wonder if there is a better way. Maybe parents should be encouraged to look after their own children if they want to rather than handing over their babies to childcare. Maybe spend some of the money on incentivising employers to give more paid leave/shorter working hours to support SAH parents. AIBU?

Did you actually mean to be so rude and horrible? I don't want to work. I would absolutely love to be a SAHM but I can't afford to give up work.
My first priority is to make sure my children have a roof over their head, food clothes. So I could give up work but then where are they supposed to live and what are they supposed to eat?
I love my children to bits and also love the time I spend with them. Such an ignorant comment.

Thanks for posting this, I found it fascinating.

@Lovelyring it was a fascinating read I agree.

I was unsure about the section claiming that the high levels of stress hormone cortisol, is the reason kids catch so many bugs at nursery, as it impedes their immune system. I thought they caught all the bugs because their immune system is a blank canvas at that age!

@Rosebel not everyone is in your situation. There are lots of parents that valu

oops posted too soon. I was going to say that there are lots of parents that value lifestyle over time at home with small children. They’re not using childcare because they’re children would want for food and a roof over their head if they didn’t, they’re doing it to fund foreign holidays, cars and larger houses. Other people do make the decision to have less comfortable lifestyles because they don’t want to use childcare. It’s not black and white

Early use of nursery has been found to have some negative effects however they are relatively small and the studies never take into consideration the parental health and wellbeing which has a big impact on the child and can be increased with the use of good quality childcare.

I've never known anyone who works for a fancy car or nice holiday.

I do know families which could survive on one income but don't because neither parent wants to give up their career.

This could result in many providers closing due to a number of reasons. I think there are better things to spend government funding on rather than extending free childcare.

@tirednewmumm criticalscience.medium.com/on-the-science-of-daycare-4d1ab4c2efb4
This is the best evidence summary I've come across

@pbdr i sent both my children to full time nursery from age 1ish not quite full time but for 4 days a week )a small nursery don’t know if that makes a difference), I clicked on the articles and it does make for very uncomfortable reading! However, this is just anecdotal among my small network of friends and acquaintances but the ‘known’ children who have the most serious behavioural issues, act up in school, at parties etc are without exception the ones who DIDNT go to nursery from a young age, or at all, and stayed at home. Obviously there might be issues I don’t know about. My 5 year old so far is thriving at school and excels in social skills and friendships. So I wonder, is this for All children, like it is a given they will become aggressive after going to nursery or are there other factors at play? Panicking a bit now I’ve stored up issues for when they are older!

@Movingonupi
The effects on average are fairly modest on an individual basis (although as the Quebec example shows can be more significant at a population level) and as the author points out some children will be affected much more or much less than average.
It is absolutely nowhere near being a certainty that a child who went to nursery from a young age is going to be aggressive or have behavioural problems. Just a slightly higher risk, but huge numbers of kids come through early years childcare with no issues whatsoever. If your daughter is sociable and thriving at age 5 then I don't think you have a thing to worry about. She's obviously got off to a great start in life.

As a working mum, who lover her job, I feel supported by this proposed change. HOWEVER! Women should be offered a decent alternative as well to stay at home, at least until the child is 2-3. It’s all about having to be able to make the choice. In my old country mothers are supported until the kid is 2 years old. Fairly compensated and all. And yes, sometimes that means that women don’t return to work until they had 2-3 kids and been at home for 6+ years. But I still think it should be a choice.

Yes I agree
I think that's what people just don't see.
Nurseries and childcare settings like domestic households also have higher gas and electricity prices too and so they'll be feeling the pinch aswell and they can't have it cold for young children.
Also nurseries round here are ALWAYS advertising - the pay is really poor it's minimum wage then only another 20-30p an hour as a supervisor the government need to do more to encourage people to work in that sector.

It's not as simple as that. There are many reasons why it is wiser to continue working as it's especially women who get hit by being sahm in the long term. On top of the need to pay for a house and other essential stuff, here is some:

• Anything can happen in life, people get ill, can die, couples can split up and relying on only one income is never a wise decision. This is an issue that brings lots of women to live into poverty unfortunately as they quit their jobs to be at home with DC and then maybe lose their husband or break up and have no way of supporting themselves
• you continue to pay towards your pension, which will hopefully mean you will be able to live your late years with decent standards (no I don't mean luxury holidays around the world but simply the ability to pay your bills and do house repairs and get extra medical support if needed). I have relatives (women) who haven't worked and now live off a very small pension that is not even enough to cover the basics and their DC have to continously support them as they basically live in poverty
• Working doesn't just bring monetary benefits to an individual: it challenges you, makes you meet more people, gives you a purpose outside of the domestic walls, stimulates you... all things that being a 24/7 stay at home mum cannot give you
• you set an example for your DC, especially DD: what is the point of studying and working hard if we then feel we have to quit our jobs and become full time mothers once the kids arrive? I wouldn't want my DD to think that's the only way to have a family

I could list many more but I don't want this post to become too long.
It's not all black and white.

Please do not let this b.....it bring you down - your DD is clearly a lovely, well balanced child and you have nothing to worry about. Growing up in a loving, caring household with parents that are present when together (even if not 12 hours a day) is what makes a child happy and secure. Do not read this stuff.

FWIW I think that letting DC cry until they fall asleep (as it's common here on MN) makes much more damage than sending them to a good, reliable nursery from young age. There is much more literature about that infact.

Agree with you, time with loved ones is invaluable. People should be helped to be with their families and take care of each other. Capitalism doesnt give a crap.

@Eatentoomanyroses i wish I could afford foreign holidays! Which by the way, benefit the children as well, but I can’t, until DD turns 3 as all the money I would have spent is going on childcare. Roll on when she’s 3 and we’ll be able to take the kids abroad again 😊

I would never have given up my career
Nobody expected my DH to
Yes for about a year when I had 2 at nursery before the funding kicked in my net salary was only about 1k (part time work)
But we looked on nursery costs as a joint expense

@Marghe87 I didn’t say that there weren’t good reasons for putting children in childcare. I just think there are some parents who put their children in childcare full time from very young ages in order to fund things that are not really necessary. Those parents could choose to work more part time and still have all the things you mention. I am not a sahm. I work but I’ve found a way to do it which means my youngest isn’t in a nursery and my oldest is never in wrap around care.

The criteria for DLA have nothing to do with whether a child prefers home vs childcare.