Susan Kramer, the party spokesman for families, acknowledged that plansto provide 'at least 20 to 25 hours' of free childcare for all childrenaged 18 months to five years would be a 'challenging commitment'.
She stressed the necessity of including parents who are not in work.'The statistics make it clear that it is usually the children inworkless households who are most vulnerable to being left behind bytheir peers, even from the day they start school, because they havelacked the stimulation and opportunities to develop that other childrentake for granted,' she said.
Another central policy for families would be to change 'maternity' leaveto 'parental' leave, putting fathers and mothers on an equal footing.This leave would be extended to 18 months and could be split betweenboth parents as they chose, with possible splits with other familymembers.
