‘This won’t stop nurseries going bust’ – mothers and staff react to extra childcare support

theguardian.com:

In his spring budget the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, announced “landmark” plans to extend free childcare in England to infants aged one and two as part of a drive to boost the workforce.

In a £4bn policy move, Hunt said the government would offer 30 hours of free childcare for every child from the age of nine months, where all adults in the household work at least 16 hours. He says this will reduce childcare costs for a family by nearly 60%.

However, the changes will take time to implement, Hunt said, adding that such a large reform must be introduced in stages to ensure there is “enough supply in the market”. As a result, working parents of two-year-olds will get 15 hours of free childcare from April 2024, extended to 30 hours by 2025. Here, nursery providers and mothers react.

For us, the news is disappointing. We woke up thinking we would get the support this year so the timing of how long it will take to implement is off. It’s progress but doesn’t make a huge difference in terms of financial help right now, as our daughter will be two years and eight months when the changes come in next April.

This definitely feels like a political play ahead of the election next year. I have one daughter who is 18 months and my husband and I both work full-time so she is at nursery all week, as we do not have help from family. In north London, where we live, a lot of the nurseries only take children from two years old and it costs us £1,950 a month, which is over a third of our combined earnings.

We both have well-paid jobs in consulting and publishing but with childcare, a mortgage, a car – plus cost of living – it’s tight. We have not been on holiday since last April and I doubt we will go away this year.

We are in the middle ground, where