Childcare is economic infrastructure. At the Centre for Progressive Policy, we have estimated widely accessible high-quality childcare could boost UK GDP by 1 per cent, or up to £27 billion, as parents are better able to progress in work. To try and reap this reward, the Conservative Government has started expanding the 30 hour a week subsidy to working parents of children under three – with roll-out planned to be complete by September 2025.
But as those working across the sector will know, Government subsidies were already insufficient for funding the places of three- and four-year-olds, so this latest expansion – which Labour has also now signed up to – will simply squeeze margins even further. The risk of policy failure here is huge – our latest research estimates that we will need an extra 28,000 workers by the end of 2025 to meet likely demand from parents.
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