Childcare costs in the United Kingdom are some of the highest in the developed world, and they have been persistently so. This is a major factor driving cost of living pressures, and has a variety of deleterious consequences.

A new report by Policy Exchange argues that the Government should take steps to reform the childcare market. A new paper Better Childcare: Putting Families First proposes ways to

• expand the childminder profession
• give parents more flexibility
• make Child Benefit more generous in the early years
• Embracing smarter regulation for the childcare sector

Co-authored by Connor MacDonald, Head of Economics at Policy Exchange, and Rt Hon. Ruth Kelly, former Secretary of State for Education, this report is comprehensive, and puts forward ways in which Government can ease the cost of childcare and give families direct support.