Would you use extra free childcare?

SarahAnnBlackburn

I have a few points about this new policy.

Spread the free hours out from the end of maternity leave
A couple of people already said this - starting free care at age 3 means there is no support for new parents - returning to work after Maternity leave was really expensive - and when we had 2 children in paid for childcare, even with the 15 hours free for the older one, most of my money went on childcare. The law protects your job to help you to return to work after 12 months, not after 3 years! so the childcare help should match that - perhaps the free hours should be spread out over all of the pre-school time - instead of lots of free hours before they get to school.
30x39 = 1170 per year age 3 &4
that's about 12 hours per week 48 weeks of the year for ages 1, 2, 3 & 4.
I've got plenty of friends who stopped working (so not contributing to the economy, reducing their own job prospects) because income didn't cover childcare. particularly hard if you have more than 1 under school age.

Remove the birth date lottery
The present system means you don't get the freecare until the start of the following school term - that can be 4 months if you're born on 1st September or 1st January. (we were really lucky, our pre-school decided to give free care from after the 3rd birthday regardless of when it fell). It's also unfair on parents with children born later in the school year - we got 18 months of free care, some get more, some get less. It stops as soon as your start school, Popular providers fill up their free places earlier in the year meaning summer children don't get places even if they are entitled to.

Pay the providers fairly - or they will cut corners or refuse to take on the "free hours"
I know that particularly in the South East, there are issues with the amount of money the childcare providers get for these 'free hours' - they are free to us parents, but the money from the government doesn't cover their normal running costs. Some childminders refuse to accept these free hours for those reasons. I believe it's around the £4 per hour mark.

Add 2nd child section to the survey
Finally the survey form didn't allow me to accurately represent our situation. Eldest is now at school (30 hours per week) but still under 5, - so is at compulsory school for some time that I am not working (looking after other child) and has 8 hours of wrap around care to cover my working days - so it looks like we have 38 hours of care. We don't need that many hours.
The survey should allow you to complete each child separately - younger child is at childminder only on my working days (for 27 hours) - eldest used to only be at pre-school on my working days. Or change the wording to say 'Under school age' instead of "under 5".

FBaby

I think that's a very wise initiative allowing those families who will lose tax credits as the result of the cuts to work more hours to make up the difference without the liability of additional childcare costs.

There have been too many families choosing to work fewer hours relying on tax credits to make up the difference but blaming childcare costs for reasons not to take on more hours. This excuse won't be there now and parents of 3 yo.

fairynuff27

I will definitely use this. I work freelance so that I can fit around my 2 year old twins, but have started them in preschool this term for social reasons - they were quite isolated at home with me all day every day, and their speech was suffering from not interacting with other children.

Its an uphill struggle to pay for two, in fact, I'm freelance because it would have cost more than I earned to go back to work and pay for childcare twice after my maternity!

I personally would have welcomed fewer hours at 3, but some for 2 year olds.

mforr64

I work in the Voluntary Sector running a parent and toddler group ( not OFSTED reg'd). My children are teenagers now so don't need it. My issue is with the availability as I now have a backlog of children at the group who can't get a school nursery place because of the last shift in the increase of hours from 12.5 hrs to 15 hrs. When the hours are increased to 30, schools will only be able to take in half the children. I am aware of the other alternatives (c/minder & private sector) but there doesn't appear to be enough places and trained up staff to cope with this. There will be a lot of disappointed parents. Had to turn away new members today and felt awful. This is a policy that is making a lot of headlines but without the back up I'm afraid.

tarka33

haras_nosirrah wrote: »

. Ironically the people I know who get the free hours at 2 are those that don't work therefore don't need the free hours?

This. Whereas I pay out as much as my mortgage to keep working full time & can't afford to have another.

loocyloo

I'm a childminder and offer funded sessions. I don't have availability to offer the 30 hours funded a week, and I know of several preschools in the same situation. I've already had to tell a prospective parent that I don't have those hours available ( and also, that the 30 hours is not available yet in all areas. it is on 'pilot' in a few areas around the country )


Also, unless the rate of funding is sensible, preschools/childminders might not be able to offer it, as at the moment, a lot of us subsidise the funding as some Local Authorities do not pass on the full amount they are given by the government. just because children are attending for longer, doesn't lesson the amount it costs to pay staff/heat etc a setting/provide resources!


and I am fed up with people wanting 'something for nothing' I find that some people who get 'free' childcare, don't value it, and don't turn up or change their mind and go somewhere else, causing mayhem in payment. Childcare is not something that you pay for, for ever. Yes, having 2 children using fulltime care is not cheap, but within 5 years, they are at school and the cost drops significantly!
Childcare is NOT expensive; its PRICELESS.