Could the solution to the childcare crisis have a ‘silver’ lining?
We were recently joined by a group of interns within the Citizens Advice advocacy team. We were keen to get their thoughts on some of the issues we work on and below are Deborah Ajayi’s thoughts on how we could take a fresh look at childcare reform.
The debate around childcare is well rehearsed — it’s expensive, limited and increasingly squeezing parents out of work and children out of learning. However, when it comes to solutions we feel stuck in a rut. Is it time for more radical thinking? What are other countries doing, who has it right? One place with a different approach is Japan. Is the answer to go down their route of an intergenerational care offer, bringing together care for both young children and older people? Could the solution to the childcare crisis come with a ‘silver’ lining by also helping address isolation and loneliness among older people?
The situation as it stands
The UK has some of the highest childcare costs in Europe. The latest figures show that a part time (25 hours a week) nursery place for a toddler (under 2) is £138.70, a full-time nursery place (50 hours a week) is £269.86. Over the course of the year, a full time placement can be expected to cost in the region of £14,000. That rises to over £19,000 for families living in central London.
At the same time, the current support package for childcare is complex, with different options according to children’s age and parents income and/or working status. As stands it includes:
- Statutory Maternity Pay/Shared Parental Pay and Maternity Allowance for age 0–9 months.
- From birth to age 11, working parents can access support through tax free childcare which offers up to £2000 back per annum for working parents.
- Children aged 2 whose families are receiving certain government support are entitled to 15 hours free childcare.
- All 3–4 year olds receive 15 hours of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year.
- Working families can receive a further 15 hours of free childcare for their 3–4 year olds for 38 weeks of the year.
- Households on Universal Credit can reclaim up to 85% of their childcare costs (capped at £646 per month) for their first child (£1,108 for two or more children).
What we see in the data
Childcare is a major concern for people coming to Citizens Advice for support and we see more and more parents approaching us for help specifically with childcare costs. Year on year we’ve seen a more than 10% increase in parents seeking help (July 2022 data).
This is all set against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. The cost of childcare for children aged under 2 has increased by 2.5% just this year. In a large-scale study published by Pregnant then Screwed and Mumsnet in March 2022, 62% of parents said that childcare now costs the same or more than their rent or mortgage. The cost of childcare had also led to 43% of the mothers who participated considering quitting their employment, and another 40% said that they had had to cut back on their hours because of the cost.
Time for radical thinking
When we look for international examples of fresh thinking or solutions to the childcare crisis, what we see is a great degree of homogeneity in approach — a mix of nursery based provision, childminders, funding support or in home care. The two examples that stand out as taking a more radical path are Canada, where parent-led cooperatives account for nearly 10% of childcare provision and Japan which has embraced an intergenerational model of care.
Focusing on the Japan example, it tackles many societal challenges in one go — addressing loneliness among older people, taking a whole family approach to care and providing a more enriching environment for children.
Loneliness among older people is a well acknowledged problem. Families across the country already access intergenerational care on an informal basis, with grandparents supporting adult children with childcare. But what if this became formal care? Under this model pre-school children and senior citizens would be grouped together in one centre, with shared activities bringing the two cohorts together.
Intergenerational care would change the nature of formal childcare. It would offer a family-centred approach and come closer to replicating a family based care model.
We cannot continue to ignore the scale of childcare costs, nor their impact on families. Intergenerational care encourages us to think more radically about childcare. And maybe in the case of the UK, it is our silver lining. Maybe redefining the concept of childcare into a more family centred approach could improve the learning and mental health and growth of both children and older people and maybe, by meeting the needs of two generations at once, it could be more cost effective?
