The position on free entitlement

Despite its introduction nearly 15 years ago, free entitlement, formerly known as the Nursery Education Grant, remains a hot topic, continuing to be the subject of much debate between parents, child-carers, local authorities and the government.

As a working mother myself I fully understand what it's like to have a desire to return to work once you consider your child is old enough. Having worked hard building up a career, gaining qualifications and experience, many women aren't content to resign themselves to being stay-at-home mothers.  However, in recent years our government has taken away much of the financial support for families - in April 2000 married couple's allowance was abolished; the income threshold for claiming child tax credits has been reduced; child benefit is to be means tested from January 2013... All of these changes take their toll on the pockets of the average working-class family. And, with inflation and the cost of living rising considerably, it's not surprising that most families consider free entitlement a god-send as it gives them a reduction off their childcare bills.