The acknowledgement by children's minister Margaret Hodge last week that free nursery care was unlikely to be taken up by the poorest families was an unusually frank admission from a politician, particularly as the provision of subsidised early years places is set to be a key issue as Labour angles for a third term in office.
Childcare is inaccessible and unaffordable for many people. A recent survey by the Daycare Trust found that the typical cost for a nursery place for a child under two is 134 a week, a rise of nearly five per cent from 2003. Many pay much more than that - the highest cost identified in the survey was 338 a week.
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