Opinion

Opinion: Editor's view - At last, the tax credit system is due for a shake-up

The survey of parents' use and views of childcare and early years, commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, paints a complicated picture of the reasons why take-up of formal childcare seems to have levelled off (see News, page 4).

The Ten-Year Childcare Strategy is finding it particularly difficult to reach disadvantaged families.

People's lives are complex, and their reasons for taking particular courses of action are not easy to slot into tick boxes. Lack of affordability can cover many different issues, including lack of information about what is available.

One significant factor is definitely the Working Tax Credit and the relatively low take-up of the childcare element by families who are eligible to receive it. It is complicated, it is confusing and it obviously doesn't feel easily accessible to many parents. Paying it directly to parents rather than providers also causes problems.

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