Government said to be considering extending funded childcare to all two-year-olds
By Rachel Lawler
The government is reportedly considering extending funded childcare for two-year-olds to all working families in England.
that cabinet ministers believe that the pledge should be a 鈥渢op priority鈥 for the next election.
Currently, families receiving certain benefits can get 15 hours a week of funded childcare and education for two-year-old children. This change could see all two-year-old children in England receive the funded hours.
Year-round 30 hours offer
The government is also said to be considering extending the 30-hours offer to be available all year round.
Currently, some working families are entitled to a total of 30 hours a week of childcare and education for 38 weeks each year.
Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, told The Sun: 鈥淚f we really want to help and support working families, we must make 30 hours free childcare available all year round.
鈥淚t is ridiculous that it was only designed for school term times. We should extend it to the school holidays in the next Budget or our manifesto.鈥
Funding gap
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the 无码天堂, said: 鈥淲hile we of course recognise that the cost of childcare remains a significant financial challenge for many families across the country, it beggars belief that anyone in government could even consider extending the existing childcare offers without addressing the huge underfunding issues currently facing these schemes.
"Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England are already facing a funding gap of 拢662m - and with the cost of delivering places on the rise as the result of increases in business costs like wages, rents and business rates, things are only going to get more difficult.
"Extending the existing so-called 'free childcare' schemes - whether by offering funded places to a wider range of children, or increasing the number of hours being funded - without ensuring that early years providers are paid a fair rate to deliver places will place unbearable pressure on a sector that is already struggling to survive.
"Prioritising 'eye-catching' manifesto pledges over and above workable, sustainable and properly-costed polices is exactly what got us into the mess we're in today. The government simply must not make the same mistake twice."
Find out more
Thinktank warns of 30-hours impact on two-year-olds
Government confirms changes to two-year-old eligibility criteria