You are here: Our policy goals

01 - Make sure every parent is better off working after childcare costs

No parent should be frozen out of work because of high childcare costs. Families face the highest costs when their children are young and there is no free childcare. Parents can find it impossible to return to work, which affects their earnings capacity throughout their career.

£1.96

per hour is how much parents claiming benefits moving into minimum wage jobs can have left to take home after paying for childcare

£6300

is the average cost parents pay per year for a part time nursery place for a child under two

In order to prevent childcare costs from acting as a barrier to work, Government should:

Introduce a simple, progressive funding system that helps parents move out of poverty and into work.

Extend 15 hours of free childcare per week to all two year olds, rather than just the most deprived to support working parents

Extend childcare support to parents undertaking training, education and volunteer roles

Read the research behind this:

02 - Make sure there is enough high quality childcare for all children, including school age children

There are currently significant shortages of childcare in different parts of the country, and sometimes the quality is not high enough to boost children’s outcomes. Early education matters – it boosts children’s outcomes in childhood and beyond. We need funding levels to reflect the value of early education and support high quality provision.

65% less funding

is spent per child on early education compared to primary school pupils, despite early education pupils now receiving as many hours as primary school pupils

50% of councils

in England have enough childcare for working parents

In order to make sure there is enough childcare, Government should:

Introduce a right to early education, to bring it in line with a school place

Regularly review funding for early education to make sure that it is sufficient to pay for high quality provision

Offer start up grants to childcare providers to set up in areas where there is currently not enough childcare

Read the research behind this:

03 - Make sure all children with special educational needs or disabilities can attend good quality childcare of their choice

Currently families can struggle to find a childcare place that works for their children’s or families’ needs, and childcare providers can struggle to make adjustments to meet additional specialist needs.

92% of parents

with disabled children say finding childcare for their children is more difficult than for non-disabled children

41% of parents

with disabled children did not access their full 15 hours of free childcare, compared with 95% of all parents

In order to make sure that no disabled child is turned away from childcare, Government should:

Extend the admissions code to all early education providers so that children with SEND can be prioritised

Provide adequate and responsive funding to childcare providers to improve accessibility

Double the Early Years Pupil Premium to bring it closer to the rate paid for school age children

Read the research behind this:

04 - Recognise the value of childcare professionals through pay, professional development and representation

The quality of childcare and early education is dependent on the staff that are looking after and educating our children. The quality of childcare is higher in settings with higher pay and retention.  We want to see a fully qualified, graduate-led workforce, equalising wages across private, voluntary and maintained settings.

£0.93

an hour wage increase makes 'good' nurseries 'outstanding'

£2.58

an hour wage increase makes 'inadequate' nurseries 'outstanding'

In order to support the childcare workforce, Government should:

Introduce a Chief Early Years Officer to represent the sector to government and drive improvements

Use funding for free childcare to drive up wages in the sector through setting minimum wage levels and clamping down on providers not paying the minimum wage

Read the research behind this:

 

If you have any questions about our policy goals or want to work with us towards achieving them, please contact Megan Jarvie, our Head of Policy and Communications, at megan@familyandchildcaretrust.org.

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