Expand free childcare in Scotland to include kids under three, SNP ministers urged

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Free childcare provision in Scotland should be urgently expanded to include kids under three to help reduce poverty rates, SNP ministers have been told.

The respected Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) today called on Humza Yousaf to follow through on a commitment made last year to provide free nursery hours to one and two-year-olds.A report from the charity models the impact of an offer of 25 hours per week for all one and two-year-olds and 35 hours for all three and four-year-olds.The report says this could reduce poverty by up to 2.9 percentage points by 2030.Fully funding these places would cost more than £2 billion a year so the JRF has recommended low-income families should be prioritised first.A survey of more than 500 parents, carried out in October, shows they highly value early years childcare but 82 per cent said the high costs are a downside of the current offer.Some 65 per cent said they would work more if there was more free childcare provision.Jack Evans, JRF senior policy adviser, said: “The wait-and-see approach to childcare in Scotland risks leaving thousands of families behind.“A lack of affordable options is a significant barrier to low-income parents escaping poverty.“The cost of childcare must not lock people in financial insecurity, closing the door to the labour market.“By reducing early years childcare costs, we can dramatically increase household disposable income, with the biggest impact seen for low-income families.“So an expanded offer should be designed and targeted at low-income families and while the impact on the child poverty targets would be modest against the cost, the improvement in quality of life of families, particularly for those currently struggling to get by, is potentially great.