Parents should be given more free childcare in next week’s Budget, voters have demanded.
Most people want families to be offered more free hours as they struggle to make ends meet.
An exclusive Sunday Mirror poll today reveals how households are being forced to make savings as they are hit with rising prices.
The survey, conducted by Redfield & Wilton, found a whopping 85% are worried about whether they will be able to afford their energy bills this year.
Six in 10 say they are wearing extra clothes such as jumpers to stay warm, while 54% have kept the heating off even when their home was cold.
Almost two-thirds (63%) say they are worse off financially than a year ago - with 77% expecting their situation will either stay the same or get even worse in the coming year.
Some 61% have concerns about being able to make their mortgage or rent payments in the months ahead.
More than half (51%) believe the Tory government’s incompetence is most to blame for the state of the economy, compared to 33% who think it is predominantly because of global events.
Jeremy Hunt will unveil his plans for taxes and spending in the Budget on Wednesday.
The Chancellor is under pressure to improve childcare support as a way to encourage more parents back into work.
At present working families in England get 30 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds.
The poll found 59% would support massively expanding the entitlement to babies from nine months old, as well as one and two-year-olds.
If you can’t see the poll, click here
Ahead of the Budget, a majority (56%) warned that fuel duty is too high with 55% in favour of keeping in place a 5p cut that was announced last year.
Ministers have been considering a proposal to raise the state pension age to 68 from 2033, six years earlier than planned. Some 37% said they would oppose this with 33% in favour.
At present, the state pension age is 66 for men and women.
More than four in 10 (41%) say they would support the government increasing the budget of the British military in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with just 21% opposed.
Voters think Keir Starmer would be a better prime minister with 41% backing the Labour leader compared to 34% who favour Rishi Sunak.
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has vowed to “completely reimagine the childcare system” if Labour wins the next election.
In a speech this week, she accused the Conservatives of “failing families” by not providing sufficient support for childcare.
Jeremy Hunt is expected to change how childcare benefits are paid through Universal Credit in Wednesday’s budget.
The credits will be paid in advance, replacing the current system of reimbursing families for childcare costs in arrears.
There will also be an increase in the level of childcare support to low-income families as part of Universal Credit.
But he’s not expected to announce any changes to the level or age range of universal free childcare hours.
:: Redfield & Wilton interviewed 1,500 adults in Britain online on March 9.
'Wednesday's Budget is a major opportunity for Keir Starmer's Labour Party'
By Philip van Scheltinga of Redfield & Wilton Strategies
The announcement of the Spring Budget by Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday will present the Opposition with a major opportunity.
While Labour has indeed led the Conservatives as the party most trusted on the economy in every Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll since Rishi Sunak's last budget as Chancellor in March last year, that momentous change has so far had little to do with Keir Starmer's Labour Party, and almost everything to do with the Government's passivity in the face of an economic crisis.
Most voters place blame for the state of the UK Economy primarily on the Government, not on events elsewhere around the world such as the pandemic or the war in Ukraine. They see the Conservatives as a party that represents wasteful spending, high taxes, and low growth—but what would Labour do differently?
With a General Election likely to take place next year, voters across the country now want to hear Labour's own vision for the economy.
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