The Childcare Crisis
There seems to be little mention of one of the most serious issues facing Britain, the provision and cost of Childcare. Why is this the case, and how should we go about tackling this crisis?
The crisis in childcare in Britain and the high costs are not only a burden on current parents and a major barrier to growing families, but they are also harming our economy. The cost of sending a child under two years old to full-time childcare in 2022–2023 will be just over £14,000, and to put that into perspective, that is roughly 42% of the average weekly earnings. This is obviously a ridiculous situation for the nation to be in, and it needs to be fixed right away to reduce the costs that all parents must bear.
The Conservative government has chosen a number of different strategies to help address the childcare crisis. This entails... Nothing? The Conservative administration has effectively abandoned all plans for dealing with the problem and has made no substantive announcements about their strategy. This is not only reckless, but also hurts the economy because it slows down growth at a time when a recession is expected to hit. Regardless of your opinions of Liz Truss, she was aware of this problem and was putting plans together as part of her growth package to address the crisis that is the state of childcare. Despite the negative perception of Mrs. Truss's and her proposals for boosting our economy, we must not deviate from using some of her ideas to resolve this crisis.
To address this crisis, radical solutions are needed, so the government should think about providing free childcare for 40 hours per week (48 Weeks a year). This would also entail spending money on hiring and maintaining the centres and staff needed to implement this policy. This would be a radical change from the current system, but it would protect families from the sky-high childcare costs that not only limit their ability to work but also force them to make extremely challenging financial decisions. This policy would initially cost £38 billion a year, which is certainly a significant impact on public finance. However, further research shows that this would create roughly 1.7 million full-time jobs, helping to raise the rate of female employment by more than 5%, and resulting in up to a £28 billion increase in economic output.
Given how drastically this would alter the current system, there would understandably be some concern. However, the figures are not as startling when accounting for the fact that parents would be given the option to work, contributing to the economy and paying various taxes. The policy is projected to be able to raise enough revenue to cover 76% of the original cost within the first year, leaving £9 billion for the government to cover in initial costs for the change, and fully fund itself within 5 years following from the increased economic activity. I believe that if the government wishes to commit itself to childcare and to parents across the United Kingdom, this £9 billion cost should be taken on the chin and be paid through debt. This plan's longer-term economic advantages would be sufficient to offset the costs of the modest increase in debt in the future. Additionally, by saving thousands to help cover the price increase, this would alleviate the difficult short-term situation that so many parents are experiencing due to the cost of living crisis.
To ensure that government spending is in-check and does not further increase the nation's debt, this level of spending should, of course, always be closely examined and handled with extreme caution. However, the benefits this policy would bring to the nation in terms of the economy and parenting would give our economy a long-term boost, helping to offset the cost, and put us in a better position to support all families. The Conservatives must start putting these policies into action right away if they are to have any chance of attracting younger families and winning future elections.
Fascinating stuff! I think its very important that mothers don't feel there's any drawbacks in having children and this is a great first step. However, I am sceptical of whether we should be adding more debt to the government, it does sound risky. Of course you understand that this policy could pay for itself (although some of these numbers seem a bit off) my only issue is that we can't predict the future and what if another covid like shock hits the UK?
It just seems to me that all spending is risky and we shouldn't go around spending £38 billion thinking its guaranteed to pay for itself, particularly in times like these.