Free childcare

[muttimalzwei]

I know I am being unreasonable but I do get a bit cheesed off at friends who pay next to nowt for childcare as relatives are doing it all. Meanwhile we pay it all and are s k i n t. Fair?

Norway provide a cap on the fees for full-time nursery places. Its currently £350 a month. Not surprisingly its heavily subsidiced by the state. However, not surprisingly Norway also has high birthrates and high female proportion of working mothers too. Interestingly children are not allowed in nurseries before age of 1 but then again maternity leave is for a full year (well 9 months is maternity leave and 3 months is paternity leave). Sounds like bliss? It is costly to the state though but at least they recognise that it helps raise the future taxpayers... whereas in the UK it seems to me that appart from the measily child benefit there's no recognition from society that the children brought into this world, although costly, are the only insurance we have that someone will pay our pensions.

On that note, it would seem to me that those of us who don't have families close by and who aren't blessed with their help with childcare similarly wont be there for our parents/parents-inlaws when they are old and frail... revenge for some and just sad for others I'm sure!

My relatives do not help with childcare. Their view is that they raised their kids and they want some time to themselves. Frankly who can blame them? Having relatives to help out with childcare is not a right.

Childcare is the parent's responsiblity and I think its fair that parents do bare a share of the cost. There is help through the child tax credit system for very low income families which is fair enough. There are also childcare vouchers that most people can buy through their employer.

I think most Nordic countries (all perhaps)have a cap on nursery fees or the fee payable is individually assessed and is based on the income of the family.

mutti, think of yourself as lucky to be able to afford childcare. Many people (including those who use free childcare) would not be able to.

I think the worst trade off of using grandparents for childcare is having to stay reasonably close to them and not being able to move. That would be awful by my book as I would be trapped and unable to move to where the exciting jobs/areas are.

A sort of prolonged childhood and strangulation by apron strings.