Fawcett Society warns sector is lacking in ambition and delivery and calls for free ‘universal’ hours

• Labour in a bind over much-needed childcare reform

England’s childcare system is failing and falling behind those of much of the rest of the world, a UK charity for gender equality and women’s rights has said.

The Fawcett Society said childcare in England was failing on several fronts: affordability, quality and levels of public spending.

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Once a way to save money on a bike to work, the scheme is now a ‘life hack’ to lessen a tax bill or to qualify for free childcare

No, it’s not a delayed April fool: putting in a request to have your wages cut may actually result in you being better-off at the end of the month.

Salary sacrifice, sometimes known as salary exchange, is a great, if counterintuitive, “life hack”, according to Alice Guy, the head of pensions and savings at the investment platform interactive investor.

It has long been associated with initiatives such as the government’s cycle-to-work scheme , where you give up some of your earnings in exchange for a heavily discounted bike for your commute.

But with hundreds of thousands more people being dragged into higher tax brackets from this month, financial experts are highlighting it as a way of bringing down your personal tax bill, too.

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The government’s extension of free nursery hours reflects a late recognition of problems the Tories’ are ill-equipped to address

Britain’s welfare state was conceived to care for citizens from cradle to grave, although changing governments have prioritised different parts of that demographic range. The Conservatives have tended to be most attentive to the older end of the electorate. Pensioners reliably vote Tory; infants have no vote at all. But their parents do, which is why Rishi Sunak’s administration belatedly woke up to the salience of unavailable or unaffordable childcare.

The product of that realisation was a promise to expand subsidised nursery provision in the 2023 budget. Previously, parents of children aged three to four were entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week. As of this month , parents of two-year-olds (and earning less than £100,000 a year) will be eligible for an extra 15 hours. A further phase of the extension is due in September, with 15 more hours available to infants from nine months, rising to 30 hours by the end of 2025.

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Nick Thomas-Symonds says party would not reduce number of hours of government-funded childcare in England

Labour would keep the government’s expanded childcare hours, a shadow minister has insisted, after suggestions the party would review the scheme.

Nick Thomas-Symonds said Labour would not reduce the number of hours of government-funded childcare that working parents would be entitled to in England.

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Labour says places have fallen by almost 40,000 since the Tories came to power in 2010, forcing parents to leave the workforce

Childcare places in England have fallen by nearly 40,000 since the Tories came to power in 2010, Labour research has found.

This includes a drop of 1,000 places between March and December last year, at a time when demand was anticipated to rise before new entitlements became available.

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Survey by Coram found nursery costs and dwindling places will put pressure on government plans

Rishi Sunak’s plans to expand childcare provision in England are at risk of not living up to parents’ expectations as nursery costs surge and available places dwindle, a charity has warned.

The cost of 25 hours a week for a child under two has risen by 7% on 2023, with the most expensive area being inner London where the average cost is £218 a week, the latest annual survey of the Coram Family and Childcare charity found.

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Even supposedly ‘positive’ birth stories make my heart sink. Am I just going to have to make a leap of faith?

It’s a conspiracy, I’m sure of it. Since the pandemic in 2020, the year I moved out of the category of young adulthood, my Instagram “for you” page has been filled with images and videos of the cutest babies you could ever hope to see. Round-cheeked and smiley, they drool and babble and fall haphazardly on their faces when they fart, or smile when they fart, or just fart very loudly. It’s adorable.

As someone who, at 30, hasn’t been around many actual babies, and has only a couple of close friends who have embarked on parenthood thus far, this online exposure has been transformative. I had always known I wanted at least one child, but approached the idea with the naivety of youth and the assuredness of socialised gender norms – of course I would have a child because all little girls have the ambition to care for babies, and why would I have wasted all that time swaddling a plastic doll or discussing baby names when I was barely out of babyhood myself (Chloe was my favourite) if it wouldn’t one day translate into reality?

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With more public money on its way, Joseph Rowntree Foundation calls for commitments on value for money and staff pay

Campaigners are calling for tougher regulation of the childcare market to safeguard taxpayers’ money, as new analysis shows more than £1 in every £5 spent at English nurseries backed by large investment companies ends up as profit.

Jeremy Hunt announced an extra £500m funding at last week’s budget , to help meet his promise of 30 hours a week of free childcare for the under-threes by September next year – which he hopes will bring 60,000 parents back to work.

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An expansion of state funding makes the market even more attractive for investors but rigorous oversight is needed

For working parents or guardians of young children, arranging childcare can be the source of untold stress.

Whether it is the logistical wrangle of pickups and drop-offs, nagging anxiety about whether it is the right decision, not to mention the sheer punishing cost, childcare is up there with life’s most arduous chores.

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