Government delays childcare help

Families with children need all the help they can get - due to the very high cost of housing both parents have to work.

No-one now over the age of 50 couldn't afford to buy a property in their 20s, even on a modest salary - that's impossible nowadays.

Surely the issue is what is the best thing to do now rather than moaning or boasting about how "we" managed in the past. The country, the world, life – and, yes, expectations – are rather different now from when we were mothers of young children. So what works best for families, working people, tax payers, children?

Good quality childcare is expensive. The government was promising something it couldn't afford. Nurseries were warning that there was a huge shortfall in funding and they didn't understand how they were going to cover the costs.

It is rather like care for the elderly. You can't get away with paying carers and nursery workers less than the living wage to prop up services.

But if you are the Government, you can sure as hell try.

Only by raising taxes- it is 'our' money- they don't get it from elsewhere.

leticia- good point. I think people forget that.

When it was first announced Twitter was full of those working with Early Years expressing amazement that they would get the funding to meet it.

It isn't possible to have quality child care on the cheap. That is why grandparent's help is vital to so many families.

I am involved in 2 holiday things that attract children and it is very noticeable that most of them come with grandparents.
I was surprised to find that all my activities have a break in August. I have no grandchildren and couldn't understand it because we avoid going away in school holidays. It is because everyone is busy looking after grandchildren for the month.

It's irrelevant that when it was promised there was no money for it. The fact is the chancellor knew how much money was in the kitty and it was promised to get people to vote for them..as with the cap on nursing home payment it was a carrot dangled at vulnerable people to get their votes and it was a lie. Bad karma [and don't anyone say the other parties have done/will do the same...that doesn't make it any more forgiveable ].

Well why not raise taxes? I'd rather pay more so that we can go some way towards living in a fairer society where children, old people and the vulnerable are properly supported.

I agree with Tegan - you shouldn't use the excuse that there isn't enough money when you have already promised something. They knew what the financial situation was because they had been in power and had access to the figures.

I don't agree either. I was just pointing out that nurseries pointed out right from the start that they couldn't understand the promise because there was already a shortfall.

I also do not understand why there had to be an emergency budget, pretending that they did not know how much money there was.

I stayed at home apart from part time work within school times so I lived on a tiny widows pension and pt earnings, we scrimped and I used to recycle, upcycle. I baked, cooked healthy meals, made homemade wine from hedgerows fruit, made desserts from the same, I sewed and repaired clothes, I still have my hand made quilt on my bed. My DD says she had a wonderful childhood, we spent money on books and films rather than holdays or getting into debt. I too help out with DGDs childcare as I want more for DD and her family than I had.
However I think that some families are a bit greedy, do they really need a holiday each year, you can live without one, is it necessary to have the latest video games etc. There needs to be a rethink of some peoples priorities.

Most families these days need two working parents to afford a mortgage.

Most families do need 2 working parents in order to live.
However if you read articles like this you see that free places, that can't be afforded, just put up the costs outside those 'free' places- nurseries have to balance the books.

Another report here

You simply can't have cheap child care - it is very expensive (and even then I don't think staff get paid enough). I don't know what the answer is but certainly the government has promised something it can't afford without raising taxes.