Mothers and families joined the Halloween-themed marches on Saturday to call on new prime minister Rishi Sunak to take urgent action to increase funding for the childcare sector to make childcare more affordable, and improve the system of paid maternity and paternity leave.
Protests took place in Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Norwich.
Joeli Brearley CEO of campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, which organised the protest, said, ‘Thousands of parents took to the streets today to demand their voices be heard by this Government. Parents of young children don’t protest unless they are really furious. They have had enough, They feel they are being set up to fail.’
She said that it was impossible for most families to survive without two incomes, yet this was an environment that prevents mothers from working, with the second most expensive childcare system in the developed world.
In London, the march culminated in Parliament Square with speakers including Sophie Walker, founder of the Women’s Equality Party, and Baroness (Shaista) Gohir, CEO of Muslim Women’s Network UK.
In her speech, Mandu Reid, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, said, ‘We are in a situation where the system isn’t working for anyone. It’s not working for children, it’s not working for childcare workers, it’s not working for men, for goodness’ sake. It’s not even working for those who don’t have kids.’
The protestors were joined by organisations, including Gingerbread, the NCT, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, TV presenter Katie Quilton, and politicians, including Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow.
On Twitter, she said, ‘At the #Marchofthemummies and the message to parliament is clear – these voices and these votes need to be heard. Investing in childcare is investing in infrastructure.’
Actress Bronagh Waugh told the crowd, ‘We have solidarity with the entire childcare practitioners, our nursery care workers, our nannies, everybody who looks after our kids, we’re fighting for their rights too. We want them to be properly paid.’
Last week, Pregnant Then Screwed wrote to Rishi Sunak with three key demands: good quality, affordable childcare for all children; properly paid parental leave for all parents; and flexible working to be the default for all jobs.
Brearley said, 'We have written to the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ask for a meeting so that we can tell him the many stories we hear from women and talk with him about what he can do to support them.
'We will be following this weekend of protest with a series of meetings in which we hope to directly engage the minister for education and the minister for business in practical policy discussion. Pregnant then Screwed is seven years old and we get stronger and more experienced every year. We are in this for the long haul.'
Speaking ahead of the planned march, National Day nurseries Association chief executive, Purnima Tanuku, said, ‘Parents are really grappling with the costs of living, especially energy and food bills and we know childcare costs will be adding to this. These same spiralling costs also affect childcare settings themselves as they work to provide warm and stimulating learning environments for their children with many serving healthy hot meals as well.
‘In the UK we invest a fraction of what is spent on children’s early education and care in countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands.
‘If the government properly funded early education and care, then both parents and providers would be able to concentrate on supporting our children’s development instead of trying to juggle their finances.’
PHOTOS Angela Christofilou
