Investment in childcare in the UK will increase women’s earnings by £10 billion

According to a new study, investing in childcare raises the annual income of working moms in the UK by £10 billion, generating an additional 3% in the economy.

According to a survey conducted by the Center for Progressive Policy, a shortage of inexpensive and flexible childcare has hindered women from entering the workforce, and 1.6 million mothers desire to work more hours. I believe.

The report expressed worry about the impact of high childcare fees on parents’ ability to work and urged the government to support the investment in childcare services that women’s rights organizations claim to have made. Suffering as a result of Covid’s pandemic.

Dean Hochlaf, an analyst at CPP, said:

“Childcare workers talk about buckling in an industry that is on the verge of pressure and collapse, but a survey of mothers reveals a desire to use services that far exceed their current capacity. rice field.”

Increased access to child support will boost UK economic output by £ 28 billion annually, or roughly 3% of GDP, according to a survey of more than 2,000 women released Thursday.

In some countries, where local childcare choices were more available, employment rates were found to be 11 percentage points higher. In the United Kingdom, there are many families with two parents, and more than 70% of married couples with children work.

Most working parents with children aged 3 and 4 in the UK have been entitled to seek a free childminder for 30 hours per week since 2017. However, because investment in this sector is smaller than in many countries with state-owned preschool education systems, the UK has some of the highest childcare expenses in Europe.

Many parents struggle to cover both their involvement in the workforce and the expense of childcare because they do not have the entitlement to free childcare for children under the age of two in the United Kingdom.

According to think tanks, after becoming a parent, 46 percent of women surveyed found it “difficult to obtain the suitable childcare.”

According to the CPP, 1.7 million working moms were unable to take more time off, 1.1 million had to cut back on their hours, and 560,000 were forced to quit their employment. It was completed.

The government should boost the amount of subsidized childcare for babies aged 3 and 4 from 570 to 720 hours per year, according to the research. The Treasury would have to pay around £700 million each year for this.

He also presented Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a 720-hour subsidized children’s care package worth £1.8 billion per year for after-school activities and £1.1 billion for holiday care. Further investment was requested at the expense of.

The coronavirus blockade has cost British nurseries and childminders up to £ 228 million, and the sector has warned that it requires immediate financing to stay afloat. Parents’ ability to work was harmed by the closing of schools and nurseries, but women were particularly hard struck.

The epidemic brought further urgency to our demands, as it would be impossible to recover from a pandemic without a fully functional childcare sector, according to Felicia Willow, CEO of the Fawcett Society, a women’s rights nonprofit.

“According to a CPP study, if working mothers with young children do not get enough childcare to cover the time they want to work, it will hurt our economy. If you’re serious about “build back better,” childcare is where he has to start. “