Do you think the government’s 30-hour pledge is a good idea?
Combined with the effects of the new National Living Wage, many practitioners are worried that Nicky Morgan’s pledge to provide 30 hours of free childcare for working parents will lead to a funding crisis in Early Years provision.
Which of these statements best reflects your opinion on the 30-hour pledge?
- 23% said Yes, increasing childcare provision for working parents can only be a good thing.
- 18% said Not sure, I’m worried about the financial pressure it will place on my organisation.
- 59% said No, the pledge is underfunded and won’t work.
Comments
said on 2 September 2016
Children and their parents need to spend time together. The government need to find ways to help people to be both parents and workers.
said on 16 July 2016
The childcare providers worried about going out of business, are they charging too much . I think it's great for the families and I welcome children to my setting, funded or not.
said on 9 July 2016
Parents place the most precious person in the hands of virtual strangers to begin with. The government shows just how much importance they place on our children the future generation, by paying the minimum wage to practitioners.
said on 29 April 2016
I am a childminder and i will not be able to take on children at my setting that will be under the 30 hours funding. I am only able to have 3 early years children at my setting and the money will not be enough for me for my business to keep going. 30 hours is great for parents but the childcare settings need to be able to work with it too, the payment will not be enough. I would need 6 children on this amount to earn an average wage for my family.
anon said on 30 September 2016
I didn't agree with the nursery sessions increasing from 12.5 hours to 15 hours in the first place because of the negative impact on working conditions, such as an increased workload, less time to do paperwork & class preparation & shorter lunch breaks to accommodate the extra hours, none of which was factored in. So in my opinion the 30 hours free is madness, especially in school based nurseries. I cannot see the benefit to the children to be in a school nursery longer than what is required when they start compulsory education in reception classes. Surely it would make more sense for the Government to pay mother's/carer's to stay at home, if they wish, for the first 5 years rather than pushing more women into full time work. The criteria for which working parents can benefit is flawed & unfair to stop at home carers, with just one parent working, not being entitled to the free 30 hours. School nurseries will not be able to provide for as many children & instead of giving early education opportunities, will be used as a free child minding service, having to teach potty training, language & social skills that would traditionally be taught at home prior to entering nursery but with so many parent's working sadly we have already discovered, many do not have the time to teach their children these basic skills. It's fine for Day nurseries & childminders to undertake more hours if they wish & are given adequate funding, as child -staff ratio's are higher. In school nurseries it's just not practical.