Maternity leave should be shared

Speaking at 4Children's Creating Opportunities and Building Futures conference this week, Clegg said his party was looking at ways to make maternity leave interchangeable for parents.

He added that paid maternity leave should be extended beyond nine months and be covered by pay equal to the minimum wage.

He also said childcare support and access to free nursery places had to be better for disadvantaged families and there must be better funding to train the early years workforce.

"Many early years teachers and carers are underqualified and this will lead to problems in September when the Early Years Foundation Stage is introduced," Clegg said.

"We need more resources to improve training and help children develop, and we must make sure that money gets spent on training."