Last week the Government announced plans to help working families by introducing a new childcare tax break. As part of the the Coalition's mid-term review David Cameron and Nick Clegg unveiled proposals under which families could be entitled to claim up to 2,000 per child every year from their tax bills to cover the cost of childminders and nurseries.
In effect the new tax break would mean scrapping the existing system of tax credits and vouchers and replacing them with something similar, but different. The question is, do we need a different system of financial support for families?
The parents who use our childcare facilities in Cardiff and Barry are definitely feeling the pinch. After four years of recession things are not getting any easier; our parents have been cutting costs and tightening their belts wherever they can, and some have had to reduce the number of sessions their children attend because they can no longer afford the fees.
I sympathise with working parents who find childcare expensive, so I welcome any help that the Government can offer to reduce the cost of childcare. In this case, however, I’m concerned that what looks like new money to help struggling families is actually just old money repackaged. The existing system of tax credits and vouchers already makes a big difference to parents, and the childcare element of the tax credits has been superb in helping parents return to work.
If a system works well, why change it? I suspect this new policy is just re-inventing the wheel.
It seems that ministers are also considering relaxing regulations to allow nursery staff to look after more children, in the hope that ultimately nurseries will pass on to parents cost savings brought about by lower wage bills in the form of lower nursery fees.
Again, any attempt to reduce the costs faced by nurseries is to be welcomed, but we must ensure that quality of provision remains our number one priority. Deregulation might reduce the cost of childcare in some cases, but there’s a danger that it might also impact on the quality of childcare provided by nurseries.
What’s more, there’s no guarantee that reducing a nursery’s overheads will automatically lead to lower fees and savings for parents; some nurseries might be tempted to pocket the difference instead.
At the same time I do believe that there is some scope for relaxing the ratio of staff to children in the older age ranges, and I’m sure that this would have a big impact on the cost of running a nursery.
Abeer Bafaqih is the owner of Daisy Day Nursery which has two settings in Cardiff and Barry.
The parents who use our childcare facilities in Cardiff and Barry are definitely feeling the pinch. After four years of recession things are not getting any easier; our parents have been cutting costs and tightening their belts wherever they can, and some have had to reduce the number of sessions their children attend because they can no longer afford the fees.
I sympathise with working parents who find childcare expensive, so I welcome any help that the Government can offer to reduce the cost of childcare. In this case, however, I’m concerned that what looks like new money to help struggling families is actually just old money repackaged. The existing system of tax credits and vouchers already makes a big difference to parents, and the childcare element of the tax credits has been superb in helping parents return to work.
If a system works well, why change it? I suspect this new policy is just re-inventing the wheel.
It seems that ministers are also considering relaxing regulations to allow nursery staff to look after more children, in the hope that ultimately nurseries will pass on to parents cost savings brought about by lower wage bills in the form of lower nursery fees.
Again, any attempt to reduce the costs faced by nurseries is to be welcomed, but we must ensure that quality of provision remains our number one priority. Deregulation might reduce the cost of childcare in some cases, but there’s a danger that it might also impact on the quality of childcare provided by nurseries.
What’s more, there’s no guarantee that reducing a nursery’s overheads will automatically lead to lower fees and savings for parents; some nurseries might be tempted to pocket the difference instead.
At the same time I do believe that there is some scope for relaxing the ratio of staff to children in the older age ranges, and I’m sure that this would have a big impact on the cost of running a nursery.
Abeer Bafaqih is the owner of Daisy Day Nursery which has two settings in Cardiff and Barry.