Nursery World - Denmark holds the key to affordable childcare, think tank argues

Ministers should look to Denmark, not the Netherlands, for ways of cutting the costs of childcare, a new report by the IPPR argues today.

The think tank takes issue with the arguments put forward by Elizabeth Truss, the new childcare and education minister, who favours the Dutch model of childcare as a means of making childcare more affordable for parents.

The cost of a nursery place in the UK has risen by nearly six per cent in the last year. A family where both parents work and earn the average wage spend over a quarter of their net family income on childcare.

Reforms in the Netherlands have led to the deregulation of childminders and led to a relaxation of the adult-to-child ratios, so that carers can look after more children.

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