The government is asking for your views on how to encourage affordable childcare

[FrancesMumsnet]

As you may have heard, the UK government is currently holding a commission on childcare, led by Sarah Teather (Minister for Children and Families) and Maria Miller (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions). The commission is looking at how to reduce the costs of childcare for working families, and burdens on childcare providers, without compromising the safety or quality of provision.

As part of the work of the commission, the government is running a consultation process asking for the views of parents and carers, childcare workers, and those with an interest in child development and safety. You can see the details of the commission and its call for evidence here:
media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/c/commission%20call%20for%20evidence%20document.pdf

The consultation is open to all, so do please read and respond directly to the consultation document if you would like to. But we've also been asked to canvass your views more generally via this thread. What are your greatest concerns when it comes to childcare? Would you be happy to see fewer qualifications demanded of childcare workers if it meant more affordable childcare without compromising child safety? Are there any regulations that you think are unnecessary burdens on childcare providers? How can the provision of wraparound care for school-age children be encouraged?

Do take a look at the commission's call for evidence media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/c/commission%20call%20for%20evidence%20document.pdf and post here to let us know what you think.

Thanks,
MNHQ

jellybeans, I suppose I am thinking that the Government should apply the childcare tax credit rules to any situation where a worker looks after a child or children so that the parent can do paid employment outside of the home, (or possibly run their own business from home-based premises), irrespective of whether or not the worker and parent share lots of chromosomes.

Raising the limit on childcare vouchers would help. At the moment the combined total of the vouchers DH and I get only cover 2/3rds of the care for one child, so we get taxed on the remainder.

I do agree with this. Childcare bills can't get much lower without reducing standards unacceptably. The focus has to be on how to ensure people are actually earning money in their pocket after paying it.

I am a decent example. Not London, basic salary £30k. That's comfortably above average for the area. Cost of going to work per day is in the region.of £100 including petrol/parking or public transport fares, childcare costs, etc. That is affordable in term time, two days a week, because that much is covered by CCVs. But there are not professional jobs that will let you work term time only, 40% load. And on the non-ccv or holiday calculation, the cost is greater than the net salary.

Increasing or abolishing the CCV cap would enable me to work. Whether that would be best for my family doesn't interest the government.

Bonsoir, your 14:32 post is excellent and clarifies why this is such a hard problem to solve.

Ruthless, - how would this help?

What happened when they raised the amount of mortgage lending, - houses went up.

Raise money available for childcare and childcare costs will go up.

You need to provide it either for free, or heavily subsidised. Raising taxes would help. Government/state run childcare would be probably the most efficient and revenue from capped fees would provide most of it.

Having been made redundant end of
March I'm now struggling to get another role (I had two/three days at home so reduced childcare as no commute!) but for the holidays I need to be able cover at least £90 a day in childcare and then £4.5k commute fees once thats covered then anything else is money income! I'm skilled but have to be able to get home y 6;30pm when childcare finishes! Very frustrating as I desperately want to work I am so not a stay at home mum
I've started applying for lower salary jobs to try to get a job but no joy yet! It would mean using savings for childcare which is madness!

There is no easy solution the government should probably try to give companies employing people that have children some compensation/tax relief for helping....

Also free places for all 2yrs olds at preschool if I had 15hrs free childcare even just term time that would make such a difference!

Totally agree that parents should share the costs, but in separated instances you risk tying money with contact. In our case, the RP was actively denying contact, yet demanding money towards childcare costs when the NRP wasn't at work and perfectly capable of looking after the child. It would have left one afternoon a week where childcare was needed.

The RP argued that the 9month old babys education (and the money to pay for it) was more important than contact with the father. How would a situation like that be resolved? Its rarely so cut and dried as you pay half, I pay half.

I would like to see a higher childcare voucher threshold, or one per child, rather than £243 flat rate, as a start.

There have been countless discussions on mn about this and the conclusion is always drawn (after a lot of pain, conflict, self-righteous claptrap and sometimes humour) that the reason that we need childcare to such an extent is because families now need two incomes just to make ends meet.

The demand for childcare is so high and it is driven by the cost of housing. If house prices and rents were not so absurdly inflated, one parent would always be able to stay at home if they wanted to, or two partners could work part time, or friends could get together and share childcare.

I would offer families a housing allowance that they can either spend on their housing (so they can look after their own children) or spend on childcare.

Second making childcare costs tax deductible for approved providers. If the aim is to encourage people to work then that would be simpler than current tax credit system, and more easily applied by businesses than the voucher schemes. I'm a civilv servant and my work doesn't offer them, though Dh work does.

Wrt costs childcare is not noted for being overpaid as a profession, and the staff child ratio is important. I will shortly have 3 under 4 and I know I am frazzled after a day with them, doing it professionally deserves the pay they get.

However it has been my choice to have 3 dcs, and I can understand how others wouldnt want to pay, via their tax, to subsidize my ability to work, which is why I think making it a tax deductible expense is sensible. The lower costs and complexity of this approach cf tax credits and vouchers could save employers, revenue officials and childminders time and money. Also it would only benefit those working, which, if I understand the consultation, is the policy aim?

In the short term I think the full cost of childcare should be tax deductible, either through self assessment by self employed or through the childcare salary sacrifice vouchers. They are currently max of £243 which often rarely makes a dent in the costs.

Longer term id like to see less private nurseries and more state run not for profit nurseries. Wraparound care should be subsidised by the government in schools/nurseries/sports centres. A big problem is sorting out holiday care. Many schools do before/after school clubs but few do holiday clubs. I don't think qualifications such as NVQs are necessary to look after children and I think nurseries/childminders have far too much paperwork to complete. However childcare workers are very low paid and I would worry that removal of qualifications would result in them being paid even less.

It makes economic sense to encourage parents back to work and providing affordable child care would help that. I would happily take a tax rise to ensure subsidised child care as long as it was for everybody not just low earners.

Stay at home parents are also working - if working parents get childcare allowance shouldn't stay at home parents get subsidy too?

Bringing up children should be seen as a public service, not a luxury.

I think all nurseries should move into the state sector and be not for profit. The standards of care and quality of staff is generally much lower in the private sector.

Reducing staff qualifications may make childcare cheaper, but high qualified staff provide high standard care.

EYFS and ratios - I think under 2s definitely need to remain in a 1:3 ratio. It is very, very hard to do group care for under 2s well, and very few nurseries manage it imo/e. I also don't feel that the EYFS for under 2s is necessary. Good childminders providing warm, responsive care in a home environment is the ideal with this age group.

Ratios could be relaxed a little for 2-3s in my opinion, if the qualifications of staff were higher. Maybe for example a graduate practitioner could have a ratio of 1:8 2s, if supported by another practitioner with a 1:4 ratio - so a class of 12 2-3s could have 2 staff rather than 3, or 16 2s with two graduate staff. I feel the EYFS is appropriate for this age group.

I think the government need to recognise regional constraints in the cost of childcare. For example; in Devon the average cost of a nursery full day is £30 but in Herts £60 and in Leicestershire £45. Since afaik, apart from in London, wtc are the same it's a huge difference! Also afaik and in my circs, the cut off per child for the childcare element of wtc is £150 per week - so for me since nursery only costs me £60 a week I get it all covered - just because of lower local costs. I appreciate I'm b fortunate but I think it's really unfair.

Also lots of childcare is done unpaid by relatives or in laws - the govt need to recognise that too.

My biggest issue though is that nursery funding is only during term time - how is that an incentive to work?

Perhaps a much much higher child benefit (at least £100 a week for the first), that parents can put towards childcare costs or covering their own costs if they choose to SAH. It MUST be means tested though.

I'm not sure how reducing the qualifications needed would help given that many early years workers are on the minimum wage or not much more.

I would like to see more co-operative charitable settings where all the money that goes in being used for the care not for profit with a setting on the grounds every primary school with the space.

I'd also like to see more use of the school buildings in the holidays, it sees an utter waste for them to be so empty when there are children needing care - I'm not expecting teachers to be providing anything but having use of the building must make it possible to have affordable care. So many parents have commented here and elsewhere that childcare actually gets much harder when they go to school.

I agree achillea I have always thought that it is a good idea to increase child benefit. That way a parent can either use it for childcare or to offset staying home costs. That way they get a real choice. The Gov would never do that though as the only choice they want you to have is both parents working full time.

The government should be providing state run nurseries and promoting other not for profit childcare models (eg co-operatives). Although there would be considerable start up costs these could be recouped at least in part by charging a reasonable fee (with more heavily subsidised places for lower earners).
If anything is worth investing in surely it's this?

I don't have an issue with the cost of childcare. It is expensive (averaging £65 per day where I live), but living costs are expensive and nurseries have to cover salaries, insurance, food, heat, light, water etc. It is the cost of travel that prevented me from returning to work. When the cost of your daily commute is on par with the cost of childcare, it makes it unaffordable. My husband and I looked at both going part time, and sharing childcare for DSs first couple of years. Unfortunately with no option to share a rail season ticket, we were much better off with one of us working and one staying at home.

I would like state run or not for profit nurseries. Short term I think childcare vouchers should be available to anyone in employment, not at the whim of employers. I also think the full cost of childcare, in any setting, up to 13, should be tax deductible.

Would you be happy to see fewer qualifications demanded of childcare workers if it meant more affordable childcare without compromising child safety?

no, no, no, no, no.

Yes jellybeans, there is no real choice but it seems that it benefits big business (low wages) and banks (double income = higher mortgage) needs are more important than the needs of our children.