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Early Years: The cost of extending free childcare

6 mins read Early Years
All three- and four-year-olds in England will be entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week from 1 September. Ross Watson asks what providing an extra 2.5 hours of free childcare will mean for parents and providers.

Two-and-a-half hours of free childcare a day is not enough time to get anything done, according to Belle Kaur, whose three-year-old son Jason currently attends the nursery at Fox Hollies Children's Centre in Acocks Green, Birmingham, each morning. "It is hell doing the day-to-day essentials like shopping. He has tantrums in the car and in the shopping centres," she says.

Like every other threeand four-year-old in England, Jason is currently eligible for 12.5 hours of childcare a week under the government's free entitlement scheme. Kaur uses her free hours over five days, paying extra for Jason to stay longer on Wednesdays and Fridays.

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