To work or not to work:
this is the question.
“Childcare costs are back in the news, with two reports showing that parents can find it too expensive to work. Save the Children have identified that those on the lowest earned incomes are worst hit because they either have to cut back on other essentials to pay for childcare or go in to debt. In their Family Finances report Aviva insurance have found that Childcare costs are stopping mothers working. The number of women opting to look after their children instead of doing paid employment increased by 32,000 in last year.
At the same time 4Children have identified that one in ten breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs look set to close during the next school year and many others face uncertainty due to rising costs and pressure on parental incomes.
Without local childcare that they can trust and can afford many parents find it impossible to work. Local and national government needs to support parents by ensuring that there is good quality childcare in every community at prices people can afford. One way would be to make sure that Universal credit is developed with a sensible approach to dealing with the real cost of childcare.
Liz Sewell
Comment from yesMinister
The Coalition government to reconsider the proposed cuts to childcare allowances for low income families.
In October’s Spending Review to that:
“we will return the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit to its previous 70% level.”
From April 6th nearly half a million families earning less than £30,000 per year will lose c£1560 per year in tax credits. Currently, families can claim 80% of the cost of childcare up to £300 for couples with two or more children and £175 for single parent families. The cut to 70%, means that many families will lose £30 per week.
See working Tax credits detail
