News

Some families deserve free provision

The front page article in The Guardian on 2 May, 'Britons put work and fun before babies', cited the cost and difficulty of combining work and family life as a major contributing factor to Britain's low birth rate. The long-term consequences of this trend could be detrimental to the well-being of our future society. As a charity working with families trying to balance the challenges of work and family life, our experiences concur with the findings. The situation is particularly acute for families in central London. Westminster is a tale of two cities, the 'haves' and the 'have nots', with levels of deprivation that would shock many less traditionally prosperous parts of the UK.

As a charity working with families trying to balance the challenges of work and family life, our experiences concur with the findings. The situation is particularly acute for families in central London. Westminster is a tale of two cities, the 'haves' and the 'have nots', with levels of deprivation that would shock many less traditionally prosperous parts of the UK.

Westminster Children's Society is the only significant provider of full nursery daycare in central London that is also a charity, and all our places are subsidised. We work predominately with families on medium to low incomes. These parents want to give their children a good start in life by combining the benefits of high-quality education and care with the opportunity to become economically self-sufficient. Indeed, this is one of the Government's aims for reducing poverty. However, what we find is that these parents cannot even afford to pay our subsidised fees.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here