Ms Cooper, who this week launches a formal bid to become the next Labour leader, said that no party had set out a bold enough vision for families' futures and wants Labour to lead a ‘revolution in childcare and family support’.
Childcare was now ‘essential infrastructure for a modern economy’, she said, and for too long childcare and family policy have been seen as ‘soft optional extras’.
Ms Cooper is calling for extra family support for younger families, so that parents have more choice about returning to work, working part-time or staying at home.
Writing in The Independent, Ms Cooper said, ‘Our childcare policy at the election was popular but limited. I want Labour to lead a revolution in childcare and family support. We should campaign for universal childcare – as other countries, including Scandinavia, have. That means breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, holiday clubs and free nursery places and childcare available full-time not just for three- and four-year-olds but two-year-olds too.’
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