Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If only we knew then what we know now. And now is an opportune moment to reflect over the past 18 years.
The National Childcare Strategy was launched in May 1998 to great excitement and hope to those of us working in the sector all those years ago.
Prior to the strategy, politicians had not taken early years and childcare seriously. Childcare was something parents had to struggle with. The strategy set out ambitions to ensure parents had access to good quality, affordable and accessible childcare to meet local needs.
Since 1998, the childcare market has grown. Indeed, it is a crowded market, albeit settings are not necessarily in the areas where they are needed the most. Is the landscape now what the strategy envisaged back in 1998? I don’t believe so.
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