University leaders call on Government to expand the Childcare Grant to postgraduate students

The vice-chancellors of the GW4 Alliance of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter universities have written to ministers as part of their ongoing campaign to expand access to the childcare grant, which is only available to full-time undergraduate students with children under 15, to those studying for their masters and PhDs.

They argue that in most cases, postgraduate students are also ineligible for childcare entitlements if they are in full-time education and not working.

According to the GW4 Alliance, postgraduate students with children are usually offered a ‘stipend’ – a fixed sum of money paid as a salary – to cover the cost of housing and other living expenses. However, a typical ‘stipend’ for a postgraduate student is between £15,00 to £19,000 per year, while the average cost of a full-time early years place for a child under two is over £14,000 a year.

'I feel like this Government and the university system does not want me, or parents like me, to undertake postgraduate qualifications'

Kate Bowen-Viner, a parent and a Social Policy PhD student at the University of Bristol, said, ‘I spend my entire PhD stipend on childcare. I feel like this Government and the university system does not want me, or parents like me, to undertake postgraduate qualifications or progress in their careers. It’s disheartening and on some days, I feel like leaving my PhD is the more sensible option than continuing in academia.

‘Preventing postgraduate students from accessing financial support for childcare means preventing many parents from accessing higher education and achieving jobs that require these qualifications. It also limits the access children of postgraduate students have to early years education. Put simply, it is unequitable.

‘I completely support GW4’s campaign and hope that the Government and higher education sector will work together and with parents studying postgraduate degrees to change things.’

The GW4 Alliance initially wrote to the minister for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan MP, and the education secretary Gillian Keegan in April last year, and have been campaigning on the issue since. Other universities across the country including the Russell Group, UUK and HEPI have also raised the issue.

'We want to work with Government to ensure parents of children are not disincentivised from upskilling'.

Dr Joanna Jenkinson, GW4 Alliance Director, said, ‘We are calling on Government to address the ineligibility of postgraduate researchers for government-backed childcare subsidies.

‘Our campaign is particularly relevant with the cost-of-living crisis exacerbating the issues and we are concerned as to the impact of this current policy on the diversity and inclusivity of postgraduate research. There are solutions for both undergraduate students and staff at our universities, but unfortunately, postgraduate researchers have fallen between the gaps in provision, usually unable to meet the eligibility requirements for Government schemes or student support.

‘We want to work with Government to ensure parents of young children are not disincentivised from upskilling or reskilling and pursuing postgraduate qualifications and then accessing the high-skilled jobs that require these qualifications.’

The latest Higher Education Statistics Agency data suggests a change in legislation could benefit around 10,000 postgraduate researchers and nearly 50,000 postgraduates across the country, says the GW4 Alliance.