Extending free childcare to more families should be reason to celebrate, but few people are welcoming the Budget reforms announced today.
Ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's speech to the Commons on Wednesday morning, hopes had been raised that working parents of under fives would be given access to 30 hours of free childcare.
While that is the case, it's not happening anytime soon. In fact it won't be until 2025 when every working parent can access the full 30 hours, as Mr Hunt explained the funding will come in stages 'to ensure there is enough supply in the market'.
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It will start with parents of two-year-olds given 15 hours of free care from April 2024. Then from September 2024, that 15 hours will be extended to all children from nine months up.
Essentially it's future parents who will benefit the most, so it's given little cause for celebration among mums and dads dealing with 'extortionate' childcare bills right now, who had hoped for some immediate financial relief.
The childcare sector too isn't overjoyed with the proposals either. The Early Years Alliance (EYA) says there's already a massive shortfall in funding from the government and has questioned the costing of the new policy and how it's going to be safely implemented.
Samantha Meehan and her husband Michael both work full time and currently have a childcare bill of £12,000 a year for their 14-month-old son Joseph.
They had hoped for some immediate change from today's announcement, but instead say it's 'gone down like a lead balloon' and will leave them struggling for another year.
"When we originally heard about this, I was ecstatic," said Samantha, from Hyde, Tameside. "We recently got notification that our nursery was increasing its fees by £5.10 a day. We physically don't have the additional £125 a month so I had a complete breakdown about it. We don't have family that can help with childcare so were in a headlock with it.
"We are absolutely desperate for help and I honestly thought with it being announced now, it would be this April. It's just another year we will struggle."
Samantha, a civil servant, added: "I am completely aware it was our choice to have a child, but the fees are increasing to the point it's making us consider whether it's worth working at all, and we're not in minimum paid work. We've worked hard to be in a good financial position to have a child, but it's just not enough."
Other parents echoed her comments, with many saying there is very little benefit to working when costs are so high.
Another mum told us how she had to give up her full time job in nursing because she couldn't find childcare to work with the long shifts.
She now works at the nursery her daughter attends and says government funding is not enough to cover the care for younger children there and she worries what the impact will be of having to provide extra places.
"The money provided to these establishments in 'free hours' covers so very little in terms of staff wages and products needed for the children," she said.
It's that term 'free hours' that is often a bone of contention with providers, who find themselves explaining to parents that the government money doesn't cover the full cost for children, leaving families to make up the rest. Plus it's only given for 39 weeks of the year, which isn't enough for most working families.
The Early Years Alliance says the announcement will inevitably boost demand for places, but in a sector that's already underfunded and struggling to recruit, it may not be able to meet that demand.
"We know from bitter experience that expansions of so-called 'free childcare' without adequate investment are a recipe for utter disaster – and given that many providers rely on fees from younger children to make up for current funding shortfalls, the impact on the sector if the government gets this wrong cannot be underestimated," said Mr Leitch.
"And while today's announcement will no doubt be effective at driving up the demand for early years places, it's far less clear how ministers intend to ensure adequate supply.
"At a time when settings are closing at record levels and early educators are leaving the sector in their droves, unless the proper infrastructure is put in place by the time the extended offers are rolled out, many parents of younger children expecting funded places to be readily available to them are likely to be left sorely disappointed."
Despite some parents being disappointed about missing out on the funding, others told us that it's clearly a step in the right direction for working families.
Dad Rick Wild, from Oldham, said it's too late for his family to benefit as the youngest of his children, daughter Esme, is now three, but described the change as 'incredibly overdue'.
"Our country has some of the highest childcare costs across Europe, and it should be more affordable to help parents back to work but also have more disposable income," he said.
"I’m in support of parents paying for their own children, but there is a balance between this and simply not being able to afford to live. I think this announcement will achieve just that."
The dad-of-three, a finance manager for a multi academy trust, said having to fork out on huge childcare bills had almost pushed his wife Jenna out of work.
"My wife is a teaching assistant. At one point when we had our two youngest in nursery, the fees were more than my wife’s salary," he said.
"If our youngest had had these new free hours it would have helped us immensely. She contemplated leaving her employment on numerous occasions but she didn’t want to not work. I suppose that gives more insight into how much help free hours for one and two-year-olds will be to other families similar to us."
As well as the additional funding, Mr Hunt announced that childcare providers will be able to alter their ratios for two-year-olds as well, with one staff member to every five toddlers, rather than every four.
While the EYA says that raises its own concerns - over safety and the quality of care and education - nursery providers have welcomed the flexibility it will offer.
Chris McCandless, European CEO of Busy Bees Nurseries, which has more than 930 centres across 10 different countries, including settings across Greater Manchester, said: “Today’s announcement is a positive step for children, parents and providers of early years education.
"We know the difference that a great early education makes to a child’s future and it’s good to see the government recognising this by opening up funding for more families, and helping parents get back to work. But there is still more that needs to be done to support our sector.
“At Busy Bees, our focus is on giving all children the best start in life. The current funding model has put a huge strain on operators already challenged by rising costs and a recruitment crisis. We welcome the change in ratios for two-year-olds and the flexibility that offers."
He too says the funding needs to reflect the greater needs of caring for more younger children.
“The increased funding for subsidised childcare for children over two will also relieve some pressure, but it's critical that the extension of that scheme announced today to children over nine months is funded at a level that reflects the higher cost of caring for younger children," said Mr McCandless.
“We will continue to work with the government and other stakeholders to shape our sector and work together towards finding the right financial support and policy framework to ensure the best outcomes for children, parents, operators and the wider economy.”
What do you think about today's childcare announcement? Will you benefit from the funding? Do you believe the 30 hours free childcare needs to be introduced for all under fives sooner? Let us know your views in the comments.
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