Rachel Carrell, Koru Kids: It beggars belief that a 'growth budget' didn't have anything for early education

The childcare sector is in complete disarray with nurseries going under, childminder numbers plummeting, and parents facing enormous bills and waiting lists.

We hear stories from parents about two-year nursery waiting lists in some areas, and even parents selling their homes to afford childcare.

Given this, it beggars belief that a 'growth budget' did not have anything at all for childcare. The word 'childcare' appears four times in the 47,025 words of the published Autumn Statement - with each one of those four times referring to existing childcare spend.

It's as if they do not connect the issue of childcare with economic growth at all even though clearly childcare underpins parents' ability to work.

Why isn't the Government acting to reverse the calamitous decline in childminder numbers? We've lost half of the nation's childminders in the last 10 years – from 56,200 in 2013 to 27,900 in 2023.

Koru Kids' research found that more than half of parents (55 per cent) don’t have enough after-school provision in their area. In some areas, it's almost 80 per cent. Why is this nowhere on the list of priorities?

Why are they promising parents 'free childcare' for children aged over nine months, with no plan whatsoever for where the additional 100,000 places required are going to come from?

A raft of research shows the need is immense; that quality childcare makes a huge difference to children's life chances, especially for poor families; and that accessible childcare helps parents especially women - contribute to economic growth and societal leadership. Childcare is essential infrastructure and needs to be funded properly.