To think that what's best for the children gets left out of the free childcare conversation

[Ilikepinacoladass]

The original thread reached max capacity.

It was really interesting to read all the replies and refreshing to hear than some people felt the same, as I haven't heard it discussed much in the media. All that seems to get focused on is how free childcare hours will get people back to work, save people money, help the economy.

The question of what's in the best interest of children doesn't seem to come up.

Found this article this morning interesting and one of the first I've seen bringing these issues up.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/16/the-guardian-view-on-hunts-childcare-plans-jobs-arent-all-that-matter?

'But his offer, treats childcare as a means to a single end: getting parents into work. Childcare isn’t just an economic growth issue. Early years education plays a crucial role in targeting inequalities and closing attainment gaps. For this reason, quality matters as much as availability. Mr Hunt, like his predecessors, sees childcare primarily as a labour market tool.'

To those who hark back to some imaginary golden era and believe that things have got so much worse for women, here's a summary of life for the last few generations of women in my family:

My granny: born in the early part of the 20th century. Trained as a teacher. Was fully expected to give up work on marriage, never mind babies. She was fortunate to hang on to her job for a while but had to give up when pregnant.

My mum: first generation to go to university. Clever and capable but had to give up work raising me and my siblings. Very little regulated childcare available or maternity rights.

Me: 3 months maternity leave. No paternity leave. No subsidised childcare. Maternity leave had increased and I was able to take 6 months for dc 2 but still no paternity leave.

Now, if my dd has children she'll be entitled to up to a year ML, she can also transfer some of that leave to her partner. Their future child will get up to 30 hours free childcare at age 2, and even better if that's changed to 12 or 9 months... I'm thrilled that things are continuing to get better and enabl

Posted too soon!
Things are continuing to get better. It was damn tough paying every single penny of childcare for our children. And I would have loved it for dh to be able to take some of my leave.