Exclusive: £2.37bn underspend on government’s flagship policy means just a fraction of eligible parents are taking up offerHundreds of thousands of parents are missing out on help paying for childcare and billions allocated to the government’s flagship…
It’s spooky season for the Biden agenda
High drama on Capitol Hill this week as the slim Democratic majority struggles over President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan. On one side: the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF!), exhaustively hashed out this summer by a cross-part…
The economy has shafted millennials: now it wants their offspring too | Joel Golby
Yes, we know you can’t afford to have children. But if the economy tanks because of the low birthrate, you’ll be to blameEveryone likes babies, don’t they, with their little tiny toes and the fact that they don’t do anything and are constantly doing th…
British ‘baby shortage’ could lead to economic decline, says thinktank
Social Market Foundation suggests measures including better childcare provision to increase birthrate Britain is facing a “baby shortage” that could lead to “long-term economic stagnation”, a thinktank has said.The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said t…
Lockdown has made UK families reconsider the cost of childcare – and they’re furious | Gaby Hinsliff
Somehow we have ended up with a system that’s too expensive for parents, but not lucrative enough to pay staff properlyBuild the tower up, only to knock it to the floor. When my son was tiny, he could play that game for hours. As he got older, often it…
Scottish health secretary claims nursery discriminated against daughter
SNP’s Humza Yousaf alleges school refused to offer places to three children with Muslim namesOne of Scotland’s most senior Muslim politicians has lodged a complaint against a nursery over suspicions it discriminated against his two-year-old daughter.Hu…
Nurseries in England feeling the pressure as ‘pingdemic’ hits children and staff
Calls to extend exemptions to self-isolation in support of critical workers’ childrenMore than half the nurseries in the north-west of England have been forced into a partial or full closure since the start of the summer, according to figures that high…