Beau Roddis
30 hours of free childcare are to be scrapped, as parents are set to be given cash instead as part of PM’s new plans.
What we know about Truss’s plans
Currently, parents are entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week for 38 weeks per year after their child turns three.
Liz Truss intends to pursue proposals to swap this scheme for a £2,000-a-year cash voucher instead. Parents will be able to use this to fund informal childcare arrangements with friends and family.
The new plans are similar to the ones initially proposed by Rishi Suank during the Tory leadership campaign. Truss described them as ‘handouts’ and strongly opposed their initial proposal.
Truss has also floated the idea of scrapping the minimum ratios of adults to children in early years settings to reduce childcare costs.
Critics have warned that this will reduce not only the quality but also the safety of this care. It is also likely to increase the disparity between provisions in poorer and more affluent areas. This seems to differ from Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda, which Truss has ditched in favour of “investment zones”.
The PM is also said to be considering extending the school day to 4pm. This will likely trigger a backlash from teaching unions.
The Early Years Alliance called the plans “simply laughable” and warned against “reform on the cheap”.
What does this mean for parents?
“Hourly wages for working mothers fall in the 10 years after their first child is born”
Whilst record numbers of mothers are working, almost 87,000 have said that they would like to be but the cost of childcare is too much.
Hourly wages for working mothers fall in the 10 years after their first child is born, from 98 per cent to 83 per cent of their wage pre-motherhood
Studies show that happiness, productivity, and quality of life improve when mothers are working, as well as the general economic benefit to the country.
Joeli Brearley, the founder of the charity, Pregnant Then Screwed, said that the latest plans proposed by the Tory party will make the situation worse and lead to mothers leaving the workforce “in droves”.
Brearley said that childcare will continue to be expensive. He continued that after realising the figures don’t add up, most families will compare the cost of childcare with the wage of the mother.
She added: “I’m not saying that’s right, but that’s what happens.” She explained that the response will be for more mothers to take the money on offer from the government and stay at home to look after their children.
This will lead to an increase in the gender pay gap, inequality and a loss of skill and productivity in the workforce.
The Opposition
Whilst the Conservatives plan to give families more control, Labour promises to build an entirely new system, starting with free breakfasts for all primary school children. This is something already introduced by the Labour government in Wales.
The party announced that this would be funded through a reversal of the abolition of the 45p tax cut, which was previously announced in ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s divisive mini-budget.
Neither party have offered suitable or sustainable plans for how they will fund their proposed changes.
Instability in the Education Sector?
The Department for Education confirmed it will be making reforms to make childcare more accessible and affordable.
The department emphasised that they will explore a wide range of options and, as of yet, “no decisions have been made”.
This comes against the backdrop of a potential walkout by headteachers striking over pay, which could close schools across England.
This will be the first action of this kind in the 125-year history of the National Association of Head Teachers.
Image courtesy of Number 10 via Flickr. Image licence found here. No changes were made to this image.
