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Childcare inequality and the need for a joined-up vision
Inequality in access to childcare is just one of the problems facing early years. A joined-up vision for the future is needed.
Childcare – access to it and affordability – have been standard barriers to work or to working more hours for working parents for years. It’s a problem that, despite some investment, has not been solved and in many areas things seem to be going backwards.
A report last week showed almost a third of people in England live in a ‘childcare desert’, meaning they have reduced access to childcare, with the more disadvantaged neighbourhoods being the most affected.
The report, International childcare: Mapping the deserts by Australia’s Victoria University, says that, of the nine regions across England, the North West, London and the South East rank best for accessibility, with the smallest number of people living in a childcare desert. Meanwhile, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and The Humber and the North East have the greatest number of people living in a childcare desert, which means they have poor access to childcare.
The extension of ‘free’ childcare will make things easier for some parents, but it is likely to exacerbate the problems facing nurseries because the amount of subsidy doesn’t cover the full cost of provision and more ‘free’ provision which just mean there are fewer hours when they can charge enough to break even. That is particularly acute in poorer areas where parents can only afford to use the free hours. The impact on the hours people can work and the workarounds they have to make continuously to stay in work is huge and exhausting. Childcare clearly plays a core role in the country’s economy and should be treated as such.
A new model is needed. One that Labour has put forward is using more schools for early years provision. Changing demographics mean fewer children being born over the last decade. Already schools in some areas are closing or merging due to low enrolment. The idea is that these could be opened up to include early years. There are pros and cons in this, but the proof will be in how this is rolled out. But low birthrates are problematic in themselves as the population continues to age and there aren’t enough younger workers to look after them. That will mean more investment in keeping older workers in the workforce and more enticements to people to have children. In the middle of this mix is AI.
It’s a big mess and needs an overarching vision of how to get out of the hole we are in in a way that is good for everyone, no matter where they live. At the moment, all we are hearing seems to be gloom and doom. Many working parents are absolutely exhausted and in debt, just trying to get from one day to the other. They need some sense that things will get easier at some point or that, at the very least, there is a plan for how to do that.
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