New budget - I'm excited!

[gemloving]

I am so glad the topic of childcare is finally being discussed and it seems changed are being made.

I can't see us getting free hours for 1 year olds but 30h for 2 year olds would be fantastic and such a great move into the right direction.

I have a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old in the system!

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

@BernadetteIsMySister it's not for myself really but more so for those who will be properly benefitting from it x

So not the childcare settings then?

Honestly this is the nail in the coffin for the childcare sector. I actually think I'm going to start job hunting tomorrow.

I think whilst yes it mostly definitely will help parents, the settings themselves...nope.

What they get from the government doesn't cover all costs, hence still needing to pay 'a top up'

Good news for us yes but bad new for nurseries and don't think some will manage.

Whilst it's great that childcare is being thought of the reality is that if it's not funded correctly nothing they suggest will work.
I work within the childcare sector and I'm actually dreading tomorrows announcement which will likely be increased ratios and funding to include 1 & 2 yr olds because our sector simply cannot continue to subsidise the huge underfunding that we currently have.
Spaces are sparse as it is right now with everyone wanting flexible childcare, settings that closed through covid add the cost of living crisis into the mix it's dire and settings are closing daily due to being underfunded and under valued.

You are not alone

Will there be any way to watch this?? I'd love to see the discussion.

I have 1 year old twins that have just started going to nursery for 1.5 days a week. It's costing £800 a month and I live in a fairly poor area in Yorkshire!!!

Goodness knows how people in more expensive areas cope!

well I guess not everything has been revealed yet , so who knows .

It's the Tories!

It's all words and no substance. It will be poorly thought out and chronically underfunded. It's their last ditch attempt to win some votes as they lose popularity at the next GE.

Extending 30 hours for 2 year olds will completely devastate the childcare market. Unless the government are going to pay childcare providers a decent rate.

Childcare settings are already losing money on every single funded child as the government do not pay what the childcare settings actually charge. So yes, on the face of it parents will be celebrating but then they will realise that nurseries have shut down, childminders have left the sector or nurseries and childminders will refuse to accept funded places and they will have their so called 'free' hours but there will be nowhere to use them.

This will be the final nail in the coffin for childcare providers. The government won't fund it properly and settings will close at a faster rate to they are now. Children will be in school settings from an even earlier age under the disguise of childcare....childminder here for the last 25 years depending on what's actually said tomorrow I might start job hunting

30h for 2 year olds????
I don't even get 15h for 2-year-olds. not fair.
I have no hope for the new budget.

This would make a big difference to me but I’m worried about how this funding will work for the nurseries that are already struggling, and quality of childcare.

Also there won’t be places available for all
the extra children etc.

I don’t think they will do it.

Ok, so I know this won’t be a popular opinion but wouldn’t it be refreshing for the government to actually encourage ( both financially and pension wise ) a parent to stay at home for the first 5 years. No ridiculous childcare costs, little ones have mummy ( or daddy) at home, so no dashing to childminder/nursery every morning, then working all day, then working all night at home catching up. Every mum of pre-schoolers working full time I know, is absolutely run ragged. No time to cook from scratch, no time to play, no time to relax. Make it financially viable to stay at home. Cover pension gaps, and pay a proper wage to do so. Happy parents, happy kids….what’s not to like ? Oh and before anyone says, kids need to be in nursery, yes they do to a point for socialising, learning to play with others. They can still go a couple of sessions a week plus toddler groups etc, but the difference is they don’t have to go purely for childcare. I’m now going to duck !

This is how I feel. Financially it would make a massive difference to us but it's no use if the wonderful nursery my DDs are at has to close because of it.

The guardian is reporting that the hourly rate nurseries get for the 30 free hours will go up. But I doubt it will go up enough.

There is also the worry that nurseries will employ the cheapest staff they can get away with who have no qualifications and slip through safeguarding checks and childminders will work unregistered so there will be no safeguarding checks. At the end of the day the children will be put at risk for cheap as chips childcare.

From what I understand (my kids have been out of nursery a little while now), the reason it sort of works with 30h for 3 year olds is because the ratios become easier to manage. Childcare for under 3s requires more staff. So in order to make it work, govt will have to fund care for two year olds at a higher rate and I can’t see that happening. Ultimately we will probably end up with worse childcare provision.

I partly agree with you, in that I don’t think the right approach is encouraging all parents to work more and put their children in childcare.

Not sure encouraging one parent to stay at home is necessarily the right solution though (and inevitably it will be mothers, whilst men progress their careers and the workplace becomes more unequal than ever).

I’d rather see better part-time options for both parents (not just mums) made available and encouraged, as well as better paid parental leave for both parents.

As much as I’d love cheaper childcare, if they don’t increase the funding it’ll actually make things worse. Nursery’s only survive now because they can charge 1 and 2 year olds more to offset money lost on the funded - absolutely not free - hours. My childminder is £7 an hour, the funding she gets for funded hours is £4.87. Totally unsustainable. If parents can’t pay a voluntary top up she can’t take the child. The current funding is also term time only. Extended the provision exactly as it is now for 3-4yo’s would be a nightmare.

I think 30h for 2yo will only be for those on UC

Also at the moment the fees the nursery gets for their 1 & 2 year olds effectively subsidise the free hours for their 3 year olds. If all the children have free hours, that gets taken away.

No they'll just increase ratios....

I'll go hide with you, I completely agree 😬

@happyfishcoco I don't get 15h for my 2 year olds. At the moments, it's only vulnerable children who get this right?

@Livinginanotherworld I agree if this is what you want, however if you want a career as a women, that choice should be there without judgement. As much as it should be when you're a SAHM.

I work part time and enjoy the balance.