Poorer families in England spending more on childcare costs than in other countries
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
England is one of only a few countries where poorer families spend a higher proportion of their income on childcare than their more well-off peers, new research finds.
In a new report comparing current reforms to England’s childcare offer to recent reforms in Australia, Canada, Estonia, France and Ireland, the Fawcett Society finds that “England should focus financial support for early childhood education and care (ECEC) on those who need it most”.
“The UK is an outlier in that poorer families spend proportionately more of their income on ECEC than richer families,” states the report, which was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Researchers call for government funding for “free hours” to fully reflect the cost of delivery and say that low-income families should be “prioritised for subsidies – either through income dependent subsidies or capped parent fees”.
According to the report: “There is strong, recent evidence from Australia that ‘activity tests’ or eligibility criteria for free hours based on number of hours worked, are likely to result in the children who most need access to ECEC not getting it.”
Researchers are also calling for:
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Funding provided to nurseries so that they can operate in unprofitable areas, and support inclusion for all children.
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Reforms to regulation, including a workforce strategy.
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A more inclusive curriculum with a greater focus on continuous improvement and a more active role for government to ensure higher quality and sustainability.
Jemima Olchawski, Fawcett Society chief executive said: “We’ve got a patchwork of provision that doesn’t meet the needs of children, parents or the childcare sector. But a broken system isn’t inevitable, as the countries in our research clearly show.
“We need politicians from all parties to work together and make genuine commitments that last beyond this election – and indeed the next – to reform childcare. There are plenty of countries around the world who simply do childcare better and we should be learning from their ambition.”
The research, which describes England’s current childcare system as “propped up by piecemeal policies” and “not fit for purpose”, comes weeks after the government rolled-out the first phase of an expansion of funded childcare.
By 2025, under the expanded scheme, all children of eligible working parents aged between nine months and four years will be entitled to 30 hours of funded childcare per week.
