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?

Ive just read on Twitter it’s not until September 2024 ( no official source) another said it was more those on UC again just a comment.

so I wouldn’t get too excited if I was eligible for this. It’s the Tory’s so big headline to attract voters but what is in the detail. Wait and see.

Also the early years sector is already a mess so need proper funding to be able to carry out something so massive. Many have closed due to costs. Many can’t recruit good experience staff.

What an absolute sweeping, ignorant statement. Wow.

Hope they're also going to fund the wages for nursery staff. I work in a nursery and we have plenty of children already but we barely have enough staff for the children we've got. They been advertising for staff since last year and people won't do it because the money is shit, especially with the cost of living.
So great offer the free hours for all over one year olds but parents won't be able to use it because there won't be enough staff.
Typical government not thinking things thr9. Or they will say well we offered this it's not our fault parents said no (while ignoring the fact nurseries are closing or have barely any staff so how can parents use it).

I personally won’t benefit as we work opposite shifts so someone is always home with kids. Both nurses in unscheduled care, so we don’t work hours conducive to using a nursery. However, I think it will massively benefit a lot of families. I do wish they would extend and increase maternity pay.

At our Pre school, where each of my four children started at 3, a three hour session cost £25. Funding they receive for FEET funding or 3YO funding is £4:50 p/h. Just over half of the cost. It’s not sustainable.

I think this is great for families that want it. I would never use it personally as I cherished the years I spent with my four children when they were small. I was happy to not work until they were much older and I am so grateful I was able to - I work from home now so I have the best of both worlds now they are older. They are only young for such a little time and the early years are really important for their development and I wanted to be a big part of that. I understand that isn't a priority to everyone though. We are all different.

It helps those who would go back anyway but on reduced hours etc so get stuck when looking for promotions

30 hours term time is 22 hours year round. It covers 2 working days for me to work (shy of 2 trapped hours I can't use). I really don't think working 2 days a week is a lot, nor is it a long time for children to be in childcare for.

It isn't that it isn't a priority but many parents can't afford to be a SAHP. Never know why people find this hard to imagine.

Nobody is "handing over their babies to childcare " or not "rearing their own children ". This is typical inflammatory language, hardly surprising and not very original.
Women can't win on here. They're slated for not continuing to work so that they maintain their financial independence in case DH has an affair, at the same time slated for working and "letting someone else rear their kids". Give it a rest. Not everyone has the exact same choices and options as everyone else.

Usually people are annoyed that our childcare is expensive compared to other countries

It doesn’t have to be taken up but the option is there

I disagree nothing stops someone being a sahm. I would have loved to be a sahm when my dc was born. We couldn't work out a way to afford it with dh job being just above all the limits for even dc benefit and the cost of moving. I don't think it's a choice for many. Those who love working with dc always seem to pretend it's a choice. But a 'choice' they never really had to make and have no understanding of if they wanted to go back to work!

Priority? Do you have any awareness at all how ignorant your post is?

@HistoryFanatic I personally decided I would go without certain things so I could stay home with the children. Small house, smaller car, no holidays etc. We all value things differently and there isn't anything wrong with that. If it really costs 15k to send a child to nursery you can't tell me that people "can't afford" to stay home. They just don't want to. And that is ok too. We don't all have to be full time mums, it is ok to want to go to work.

Agree OP. Institutionalizing babies and small children is not the way to go. Parents want to believe they’ve chosen amazing nurseries with wonderful staff. The reality from the inside is young, inexperienced staff, agency cover, very little consistency and minimum child’care’. It’s actually pretty disturbing that we’re being gaslit into believing this is normal. It’s supposedly a tightly regulated industry but scrimping on ratios, faking paperwork and making things look good on the surface for the benefit of parents is rife. I’d extend maternity/paternity leave until at least age two personally.

Great if it's funded properly, although the proposed changes to ratios makes me doubt that very much.

If nurseries are struggling to recruit now, what compromises are going to be made on staffing when this goes ahead? From personal experience there are shockingly bad nursery workers out there who have no place working with children.

I just don't buy it sorry! If you wanted to stay home with your children you would find a way like many do. Just own your choice and be happy. Noone else cares in the real world cares if you stay home or go to work so make the choice that suits you and be happy.

That's so rude. Some people have no choice.

Because there is a labour shortage and businesses and public services can't fill vacancies.

Because the UK population is now expected to begin falling from 2025, 20 years earlier than expected, which will exacerbate that.

Because they need people working and paying tax.

And how are the bills going to get paid?

I need to stop opening threads that I know are going to piss me off. How can people not understand that some of us need to work. I’m the higher earner, DH has the better pension. If I don’t go back to work, we can’t afford to live, if DH doesn’t go back he loses his pension.

As it is, I’m off sick (cancer) and we sent DD to nursery anyway from the date my mat leave ended. DD adores her nursery, the staff are incredible and she gets all that wonderful messy play that I don’t have the energy to do with her at home. I’m not “dumping” my baby into a bleak boring wilderness because I don’t love her or want to bring her up myself ffs, I’m providing her with the best start in life that I can - she’s having a much better time there than she would with a mum that’s knackered from chemo and depressed that it happened to her.

Also in our sector you’d often just see women clear out in their thirties which isn’t what they actually wanted to do.

It's about more choices = more freedom. And for all the women who 'choose' to stay at home, don't forget you're in a very privileged position. But it might be that your OHs wage is partly made possible by all the women with children who do work and use childcare. Because that's how the economy works.

YABU.

I not only need to work (cost of living crisis anyone? High interest mortgages? Energy bill rises? My council tax alone is £240!!) but I want to work.

Childcare is roughly £60 per day where I live. That's approx £1k per month for 4 days (I work compressed hours and have a day off each week). That leaves me technically with £1500 left to pay my bills and buy things.

If I didn't work I would be £1500 a month worse off.

Mortgages - and rents - these days are not designed for one person to pay them. If people can afford to stay at home - usually because of a high earning partner - good for them. Less nursery places needed to drive up the cost. Otherwise, of bloody course people need to work.

Also, this is amazing for those of us who don't want to be SAHMs. Even if we could afford it, I wouldn't do it, as I would hate it. I work PT, which is a perfect balance for us all.