To wonder if the free childcare for 1 and 2 year olds will materialise

[Winterday1991]

The first stage roll out of 15 hours free childcare is due to be rolled out from April next year. I asked my nursery manager today on pick-up if they had any information or guidance from the government on how it will work. Her reply was that they had no information about it but the waiting list had grown as people are trying to get their little ones enrolled in time for April.

Aibu to think it might not actually materialise?

Well because they aren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, they want more people back to work to pay more taxes and be worth their while. If they are just giving free childcare to those who are already in work there's no net gain for the government.

This!!!

The April rollout for 2 year olds will only benefit people whose children already attend our nursery as we are now full until Sept 2024. 2 year old funding rates have always been higher than 3/4 year olds so we should be OK financially but capacity will be the problem. We won't be raising ratios...

Get a new job surely?!

You realise this isn't just me? What if the whole childcare sector "got a new job'?

We should be grateful people are willing to work in childcare at all with the current system. Let's not encourage them all to quit.

I don't think it will happen. It was a desperate headline grab from a few months ago to try and get votes. I would wager rent and mortgage costs plus food and energy are currently a bigger concern to parents than their (crippling but temporary) childcare bill.

It won’t happen - labour will get into power and have to pick this project up

It might materialise but (in my area) no one is going to be able to access it because the childcare spaces don't exist.

My daughters been on the wait list for a space since I was 4 months pregnant. She's now 21 months and we've still not got all the hours we're on the list for.

It was ok, until I was made redundant. Now I'm basically forced out of work because I'm so restricted with the hours I can work.

And that's all with paying £65 a day.... which the government will not pay

Ironically, Labour getting in might make it more likely to happen.
They introduced, and properly funded, the original free entitlement when they were in Government, and it was in their manifesto in 2010 and 2015 that they would extend it.

I wrote this on the childcare board when the announcement in the budget was first made. It might explain your predicament, kegofcoffee:

"Imagine that, during an election campaign, the Government promises to extend the 45p per mile business travel allowance so that all workers can claim a generous amount of free petrol a week. They've calculated that this will be very popular with voters.
The workers are delighted and rush to vote for the Government.

After the election, the Government quietly approaches the petrol companies. "We'll only pay for half that free petrol. You must absorb the cost of the rest. You're not allowed to tell anyone and you're not to go charging extras. If you refuse to offer it, you'll lose business to the companies that have agreed to offer it.
We want the workers to believe we are a generous Government giving them free petrol or they won't vote for us again."

One company embraces the new rules and offers the free petrol to everyone (the owner is a friend of the Government). It takes the hit because it's a multi-national company and it can afford to hold out for now (it's also been well compensated).

The other petrol companies gradually go bust because they can't afford to provide the free petrol and meet their costs. They stop trading until that one company is almost the only one left.

Oh, now they've got the workers where they want them! They increase the cost of petrol, make up their losses and people end up paying far more because there is little alternative. The workers struggle to find petrol stations, where petrol is charged at a premium and withdrawn when their staff can't cope with the demand. The workers are expected to be grateful for anything they can get.

In a very simplified way, that's what's happening with childcare.

We warned back in 2015 that extending the "free" entitlement would actually raise fees for parents and reduce availability. We explained that the Government wasn't even funding the 15 hours adequately and asked where the money was coming from to extend the scheme.
We were ignored.

I can't see it happening. I work in early years, we just don't have the staff to operate the scheme. We have been advertising job vacancies for a while, the company pays well in comparison to many nurseries locally, plus extra employee benefits- nobody is interested! Plus the funding rates paid by the government don't cover what it actually costs to provide the 'free' care. Nurseries will either refuse to offer it, or they'll offer it and risk going bust.

They did announce the other day that it wouldn't be universal but they would introduce a tapered system with the lowest income families receiving the most help.

They did implement the funding to begun with and its only because the tories have refused to fund it properly that it has become such a mess.

Unpopular opinion... if you have kids you should pay the childcare, the taxpayer should not be subsidising your children more than they already are

More than they already are?

How are people going to afford kids with current interest rates and cost of living. You might not think it’s your problem but if there are less people being born year on year, we are in trouble in 20-40 years time

In fairness I don’t think the language around it helps with ‘free’ hours etc.
we got the 30 funded hours in March and our bill went from £1030 to £680. An improvement yes and we are glad but certainly not ‘free’! If people are having children assuming they won’t pay a penny in childcare as long as they’re in less than 30 hours a week I think reality is going to be a smack in the face.

Childcare currently is unaffordable, we've decided not to have a second child as we wouldn't have any help..nursery would cost over £1000 a month and that's not taking into account childcare for our firstborn.

We are middle earners so not poor but not wealthy either, it's getting to the point though where only the wealthy will be able to afford children..what a dystopian future.
I think British culture is in for a shock in the next few decades, nhs is already on its knees.

What would one day per week look like do you think?

Gosh, I’m sorry, that’s so wrong to hear you’re having to plan your family based on this when you’re middle earners and presumably very very hard workers. It’s all so flawed.

Sorry do you meant the cost one day per week? That was 4 days a week before and after the funded hours so I’m guessing 25% of that but I have no clue! I know the nursery are raising fees year on year too.

Yes. Thank you. Gosh, just so much money isn’t it

The qualify of childcare will just reduce, or nurseries will close. Its a crude attempt to win votes that anyone who knows the slightest thing about early years knows won't work as the funding will cripple providers even more than they are already. The ones that don't close will just pass on costs in any way they can, through extra charges, significantly raising the cost of paid for hours, employing more cheap school leavers etc. In the end few, if any, people benefit and the kids certainly don't.

This.

Nurseries are running on agency workers more than full time staff, plus there will be so many more children and if the child staff ratios change to accommodate this then it will be a nightmare with accidents happening left right and centre staff don't have eyes in the back off their head unfortunately.

I wonder when I read these threads if a lot of the UK realises that Northern Ireland doesn't have any help with childcare or "funded hours" AT ALL until preschool year when it's 15 hours a week and can't be used at a private nursery?

And we pay the same taxes. Fair isn't it?

it's getting to the point though where only the wealthy will be able to afford children

And the critically unemployed. Not having to work means not having to pay for childcare.

So a good balance between rich and poor.

Most nurseries are struggling for staff already and having to occasionally close rooms due to it being unsafe ratios. I have no idea how they will make this work. I'm due back to work in December and having issues trying to find a space.