Despite record-breaking increases in spending, parents continue to find the current childcare system inflexible and expensive. The status quo fails to work for families with flexible working patterns or who have low or irregular income. Despite increasing funding, the childcare sector itself is also under strain, and childminder numbers are at an all-time low.

A Matter of Choice: Giving Parents Back Control Over Childcare, endorsed by a cross-party collection of parliamentarians, argues that the current approach to childcare is currently letting down both parents who want to work more, and those who want to spend more time with their children in the pre-school years.

The paper proposes a complete overhaul of the system, to be replaced with a more flexible scheme that would give parents more choice, replacing current childcare entitlements with:

• An increase in child benefit for 0-2 year olds by £2500 per year per child. This would give parents the freedom to choose to either work more, or spend more time with their children.
• A new £7,000 a year childcare voucher for 3-4 year olds. Families would be given a payment card with £7,000 per child pre-loaded onto it to be spent on any Ofsted-regulated childcare provider.
• A universal approach: abolish the removal of childcare support from those earning £100k – a tax on aspiration – and extend the support to those who are not working – so children who would most benefit from the educational gains can do so.
• An additional £700m investment in expanding the reach and capacity of Best Start in Life centres to support the most disadvantaged.

The launch of this report was covered by:

• • The Telegraph
  • Express
  • The Critic
  • POLITICO’s London Playbook
  • Local Gov