The Women’s Budget Group (WBG) is joining the call for increased funding for providers to deliver the 15 and 30 hours. It recognises that the ‘failure to fund the hours at their true cost is the root cause of high parent fees, closures and poor pay and conditions for the early years workforce.
The WBG is an independent network of leading academic researchers, policy experts and campaigners working towards a gender equal economy. It hosts the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, a group of 30 organisations representing parents, children, providers, early years staff and the business community.
The group is calling on the Government to raise the ceiling of total childcare costs for which it will reimburse eligible parents through universal credit, which it says have not increased since 2016, and to remove the 85 per cent cap.
It also wants the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to fund the upfront costs of childcare through a grant scheme to ‘unlock the working potential of over 300,000 parents’, which would support economic growth.
'Years of chronic underfunding have led to extortionate fees for parents, providers closing down and early years staff leaving'.
Sarah Ronan, early education and childcare lead at the Women’s Budget Group, said, ‘If the Chancellor is serious about growing about growing the economy and supporting families through the cost of living crisis, he needs to prioritise investment in early education and childcare. Years of chronic underfunding have led to extortionate fees for parents, providers closing down and early years workers leaving the sector because of poor pay. Mothers are being forced out of work at a time when bills are rising, and children are being denied vital early education that sets them up for life.
'When households were faced with unmanageable energy costs, the Government stepped in. Yet each month, parents of young children are paying as much on childcare, if not more, as they are on housing, and we’ve yet to see any decisive action from Government. The Chancellor knows how urgent this crisis is. To not step in and take action now would be to knowingly push the sector towards collapse and families into poverty.
'We all benefit from childcare. It enables parents to go to work, it provides children with the early learning experiences that help them to excel in school. It is a vital public service. The Government must commit to a rescue and reform programme for the early years sector. That has to start with urgent action on funding to ensure the sustainability of the childcare sector so we don’t see more closures, and a longer term bolder vision for early years reform.
'A thriving economy is underpinned by strong social infrastructure and a healthy and well cared for population at all ages. That starts with the early years.'
