Free childcare demand stretches nurseries
Jessica chose this article because of the quote at the end sums up the challenge of many services, which support the young and the old in rural communities. I have previous ruminated on the unintended consequences of the living wage in terms of the costs of services important to rural areas. This article tells us:
Nursery providers are warning high demand for a new free 30-hour childcare scheme and rising costs will mean many nurseries will “go bust”.
A pilot scheme in England that allows parents to claim free childcare for three and four-year-olds has seen take-up rates of over 80%.
Nurseries say rising staff costs and inflation will force many providers to close.
The government says it is investing a “record £6bn in childcare”.
The Conservatives’ promise to double the amount of free childcare that parents in England can claim has proved very popular in pilot areas.
Nursery providers are concerned that the money being offered by the government to provide the service will not cover the rising costs of looking after the children.
In Harrogate, 90% of providers have told the BBC they will not offer 30 hours free childcare in 2017 unless the funding proposals are changed.
“We’ll go bust under the current proposals,” says Josy Thompson, a nursery owner.
Providers in the North Yorkshire town say the cost of providing the care is £4.50 an hour per child, but that the government subsidy will only cover £3.40 of that.
Eight areas of England have been trialling the 30-hour scheme since September, with the majority of councils involved reporting take-up rates of over 80%.
“It’s a great idea and some parents have seen their weekly childcare bills cut from £425 to £85 a week.”, says Vanessa Warn, who owns three nurseries in York – one of the pilot areas.
Nurseries say introducing a living wage for their staff and a general rise in inflation will mean the proposed £6bn a year in funding for the scheme will not keep pace with their rising costs.
“The government want us to deliver a champagne nursery service for lemonade prices,” added Ms Warn.