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Labor said it would be “moving away” from the current free parenting time scheme, but gave no details on how it would be replaced.
In a keynote address hosted by Onward Think Tank on Thursday, Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson promised that the incoming Labor government would undertake a root-and-branch overhaul of the “broken” parenting system. all over the country.
“I believe we need to move away from the system we have now. That overtime model is not working,” she said. It’s not tinkering, it’s a bold, ambitious vision of how to make things better.”
But Education Secretary Shadow said details on how Labor would replace the current program were sparse, saying the party “will look into what that different model would include in the coming months.” rice field.
Mr Phillipson said Labor’s new vision for childcare starts with free breakfast clubs in all primary schools. This was the first policy announced at last year’s Labor Party convention.
She reasoned that the UK is less than two years away from the next general election and that the Labor Party still has time to draw up a “cost-funded plan” for the UK’s new childcare system.
“Parenting and family are the politics of the upcoming election,” said Phillipson, declaring that “labor is the party of the family.”
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Conservative MPs said Mr Phillipson’s speech showed Labor had “no plans” to fix Britain’s childcare system.
Children’s Minister Claire Coutinho said: [Sir Keir] Sturmer financial commitments. They have no plans to England.
“All they are proposing is the same old workers idea of spending more and borrowing more. It has enabled us to provide more support to working families and those in need.”
Under the current childcare system, parents of children aged 3 and 4 who work in the UK are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year.
If a parent works more than 16 hours a week and earns less than £100,000 a year, most children are entitled to an additional 15 hours for a total of 30 hours a week.
Some 2-year-olds in the UK are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks a year, for example if their parents are receiving certain social security benefits or if they are disabled.
However, nursery teachers are allowed to charge extra for things like meals and diapers, so hours are rarely free in practice. Some children set a minimum number of days a child must attend daycare to be eligible.
This means that in most childcare settings in England, the cost of providing ‘free childcare’ is much higher than the funding received from the government, putting financial pressure on providers and reducing the amount of unfunded time. It means that you are forced to raise your fees.
A senior Tory MP has urged Rishi Sunak to cut childcare costs in next week’s budget amid concerns that rising prices are preventing women from returning to work after giving birth.
Childcare in England is currently the second most expensive among developed countries, unlike the systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, the prime minister has yet to articulate his vision for fixing the current system and is understood to be reluctant to introduce the measures proposed by his predecessor, Liz Truss.
Ms Truss was proposing to loosen child care ratios to allow providers to accommodate more children, and to increase free child care hours to 50 hours per week.
But Phillipson said on Thursday, “No amount of fine-tuning of the system we have will allow us to deliver the ambition and scale of the reforms we need.”
“More free time for parents means more underfunded time for childcare, more costs for providers who are currently struggling to deliver their services, and cross-subsidies. “It means there is a greater need,” she said.
“With more free time, the Conservatives could collapse the childcare market in the same way that they collapsed the economy.”
The shadow education secretary added that Labor would look abroad for inspiration, including in Estonia, where parenting is built into the education system.
She said the party was unlikely to revive the Sure Start program introduced under Tony Blair, saying it was cut during David Cameron’s premiership and that it would “simply turn back the clock”. claimed.
The charity has called on both parties to develop a fully-funded plan to overhaul the current childcare system amid concerns that skyrocketing costs are sapping parents out of the workforce.
There are enough people in England and Wales to qualify for 15 hours of free childcare for children aged 3 and 4, according to a study released Thursday by the charity Corum Family and Childcare. Only 73% had a place in England and Wales. Up from 79% last year.
We also found that the average annual cost of full-time childcare for children under two in the UK is now £14,836 per year, an increase of 5.9% over the past year.
A congressional study on the cost of raising children is expected to report its findings and recommendations in the fall.
A government spokesperson said:
“We recognize that families and early childhood providers across the country are facing economic pressures, which is why we have spent over £20 billion in child support over the past five years. rice field.”