Does everyone think childcare should be paid for?

[Cococomellon]

I have seen a lot of posts in social media about the cost of childcare, that it should be free and all the reasons in favour of that such as allowing both parents to work and the impact on the economy.

I can see how this would be a benefit. I have a young child and pay for childcare but I planned for this and it is not a surprise to me.

Who pays for this "free" childcare? Is there spare money the government has squirrelled somewhere? Should we all pay more taxes? Will the nhs get even less funding? Schools?

Perhaps I am just very right wing as I don't see to see the counter- arguments but I'm sure many people (some who don't have children) don't want to pay for others children to go to nursery?

Having worked in education for over a decade, I think a lot of very small children would be better off looked after by a nursery or childminder all day than by their own clueless parents.

It’s just funding one thing over another though. As the government would have to either enforce enhanced parental leave, or increase stat paternity pay.

Thankfully DH has 6 months full paid paternity leave, as did I so we didn’t need to scrimp, but women are typically expected to take a salary cut and languish on SMP so why not men?

That’s why those on certain benefits do get free childcare before those who work.

@Cococomellon
"There is a sense of entitlement to "help" these days."

In more advanced societies this isn't seen as a sense of entitlement but as investment for the communal good. They tend to have healthier, wealthier, happier, better educated and more productive citizens with less crime, division and inequality.

I know? That was my point.

30 hour funded parents working for more than the minimum 16 hours

This is at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average.

You get 30 hours if you work at least 16, why do you need more?

I think childcare should at least be completely tax free, the same as pensions

Pensions aren't tax free. They are subject to the same tax rules as salaries.

likewise you could argue that state pensions and carers/fully/partly funded care homes for the elderly should be declined because they've had 50 odd years to save to provide for their old age

Sadly, i know lots of people who have more than enough to keep themselves in a care home for as long as they need one
They do their best to move finances so they don't have to pay for it, because others get it for free 🤷‍♀️

No it shouldn't be free. It's already heavily funded. If people can't afford kids then don't have them the world does not owe them a favour

Who owns these nurseries?

I don’t have children. I’m happy to pay taxes towards society which of course includes children’s education/ healthcare/child benefit, parents mat leave and so on etc even though I’ll never benefit. But for some reason I disagree with the childcare. Not sure why though.

People in most cases choose to have children surely it’s up to them to fund the childcare?

Two things need to happen.

1. the threshold for not being able to claim Child Benefit should be a COMBINED household net income of over £60k.
2. the free 15 / 30 hours funding should be overhauled. It should be year round, not term time only. Parents should be able to have, for example, two full 7.5 hour days funded, 5 x 3 hours funded, 4 x 7.5 hour days funded. Instead it’s a mishmash of some free hours and some parental contribution which means that for some parents it’s just not viable.

Heavily subsidised daycare is offered in various forward thinking countries such as Canada and Northern Europe.

There's a reason why these countries are more appealing than those who charge extortionate amounts for childcare.

What about women who find themselves pregnant but then are considering a termination based purely in affordability?
We already have massive problems around reducing birth rates - our populations are increasing but it’s because people are living longer, not because more babies are being born than people dying.

Not supporting more childcare funding comes from a place of huge privilege.

Not everyone can have a high paid job. I do - my sister isn’t capable of getting a degree let alone a PhD. I pay half of her childcare fees so she can continue to work, rather than be reliant on her arsehole husband. And I’m a single parent of 3. The thought of her being at his mercy with money is terrifying.

I’m with you. I took 4 months ShPL as I get full pay for up to 6 months through work, so it made financial sense - but it also made family sense. Funnily enough I actually want to be a father.

It should be a choice - it’s not for all. I agree with it being disconnected from the mothers leave - 8 months for the mother and 8 months for the father seems about right for me. Don’t have to take it all! That would soon balance things out!

@Daydreamer22 So you believe in paying taxes to support education, but not the early - arguably most important - years of a child's life? What happens if the parents lose their jobs - how are they supposed to contribute to the economy again if they can't afford childcare?

@mackthepony Agree.

Hit send too soon -

Me paying for her childcare means she can shove that money aside in an account her “D”H doesn’t know about, so that she can eventually leave him. She’s not entitled to any subsidies because of his wage. He controls everything. But he’s also thick, and doesn’t actually realise that I’m paying for half of it. He thinks 100% of her wage goes on childcare. That’s the only reason he “allowed” her to work.

This.

I think it should be more heavily subsidised, I also think there could be a student loan type system so that parents can borrow money for childcare at a low rate and pay it back later provided they earn over a certain amount. That would help families cope with the massive hit before 30 hours kicks in.

I also think there should be a right to work part time or flexible hours, like in Australia, so that more parents can work within school/nursery hours.

Also, providing heavily subsidised childcare in industries where they're struggling to recruit (NHS and car industry principally) and that actually covers the hours people need to work would go a long way to solving recruitment and retention problems there.

I'm not talking about totally free, but getting 30 genuinely free hours a week which could be used for 3 x 10 hour days (which was what I needed) or 5 x 6 hours if someone wanted school hours all year round would help a lot more people stay in work. And that starts at the point when paid maternity/paternity leave ends. If someone wanted more than that (eg if I'd worked full time rather than part time) then they can pay for it.

I don't think it's entitlement to help. If it was possible for people on zero hours contracts earning the minimum wage to afford ft childcare the they would. Nursery fees are over £50 per day. You need to be a professional to afford that. Are we saying that only highly educated people are allowed children? We are reasonably
well off, two professional salaries but the nursery years we're very expensive and we relied on top ups from the inlaws....and we waited till we were 30 + owned a home, established at work. If we all just stop having kids who is going to top up the pensions?

Care industry not car industry

That may be so but it is still very unfair and illogical

I wondered why the car industry was having difficulty recruiting. 😂