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Equality and Human Rights Commission
BAME Women's Councillors Taskforce
Sex Discrimination Legislation
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Home | Women's Work and Pay | Working and Living | Early years and childcare |
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Early Years and Childcare |
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Children need high-quality experiences with trained and committed staff in a safe and stimulating environment to prepare them for later learning. Suitable childcare is also an important route out of poverty, vital to parents so they can work, learn and train with confidence.
Ensuring the best start in life
We want to give parents – fathers as well as mothers - choice in how they balance earning and caring, paid and unpaid work. A modern family policy has to be about both childcare provision for our children and time for parents to spend with their children.
The Ministers for Women believe that good quality, affordable childcare is good for children and helps parents balance their work and caring responsibilities. They will support their ministerial colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families to continue to improve the quality, availability and affordability of childcare.
Since 1997 we have invested over £21 billion in early years and childcare services (including the early years element of Dedicated Schools Grant funding to Local Authorities to support free early education for 3 and 4 year olds) as part of an unprecedented expansion for young children and families.
All 3 and 4 year olds are now guaranteed a free, part time (12½ hours per week, 38 weeks a year), early education place for up to two years before reaching compulsory school age (the term following their fifth birthday). Government’s goals are that by 2010 there will be a Children’s Centre in every community (3,500 in all); every school will offer access to a range of extended services between 8am and 6pm; and all three and four year olds will be able to access 15 hours of free early education per week.
At March 2008 the stock of registered childcare places stood at over 1.29 million places (more than double the 1997 level)
The Children’s Plan:
The Government’s Children’s Plan, published on 11 December 2007, set out the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ vision for children and children’s services and their delivery plans for the next three years. It puts them in the context of the Department’s longer term ambitions to improve outcomes for children.
This included an announcement of an investment of £100 million from 2008 to 2011 to extend the early education entitlement to 20,000 disadvantaged 2 year olds in those local authorities with the highest levels of deprivation.
The Children’s Plan also set out a goal for 2020 (to be consulted on) that at least 90% of young children should be developing well across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile by age 5.
On 2 August 2007, Government announced a major cash injection to local authorities for children’s centres, early years education and childcare totalling more than £4 billion for the years 2008-11. This will go towards: - Providing a Sure Start Children’s Centre in every community; - Outreach work to reach the most disadvantaged families; - Training and support for the early years workforce; - Ensuring there is sufficient childcare in each local authority; and - Ensuring every nursery and children’s centre has a graduate to lead children’s learning and development.
Tax Credits
Government is providing substantial help (totalling over £3m a day) to working families with up to 80% of their childcare costs through the tax credit system. At April 2007, the childcare element of Working Tax Credit was benefiting 414,000 lower and middle income families.
Employment rights for families
Since April 2003 working parents have had certain rights in the workplace to help them juggle work and family life.
Parents of children aged 6 and under (or 18 and under if the child is disabled) have a right to be able to request to work flexible hours, fathers are able to take paternity leave, parents who adopt are able to take paid adoption leave, and the arrangements for maternity leave and pay have been simplified. Since April 2007 the duration that maternity pay and adoption pay is paid has increased from 26 weeks to 39 weeks and the right to request flexible working has been extended to carers of dependent adults. To see more about maternity/paternity leave and flexible working, click here.
Enabling people who want to work is vital in meeting the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reforms' aim to help drive up UK prosperity and competitiveness to deliver prosperity for all. Helping make working parents lives easier is a key to its delivery.
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Updated June 2008 | © Crown copyright |
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Topic resources
Useful websites
National Day Nurseries Association
National Childminding Association
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