The government's move to increase free childcare from 15 to 30 hours a week for three- and four-year-olds who live in dual-income households is generally regarded as a positive one.
Parents are struggling to pay soaring childcare costs and the additional support should, theoretically, see more of them get back into work. There are, however, some crucial questions about these plans that need answering: how will the increase be funded? If care is getting cheaper, will the quality be worse as a result? And how do we guarantee that the scheme's main focus is on the needs of children?
The first few years are the foundation that shapes a child's future growth, development and learning achievement at school and in life in general. The release of the recent analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study data by the Institute of Education (IOE) has shown that children's language ability at the age of five is strongly associated with their reading and comprehension skills in later life.
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