Responding to today’s announcement that 80,000 more families will be paid childcare support, Social Market Foundation Director Ian Mulheirn said:
“With childcare costs rising, any measures to help parents access good quality childcare are welcome. Extending the current deal to parents working less than 16 hours will make it easier for parents to take gradual steps back into work.
“But this is not new money that the Government has conjured up. The £300m to fund the extension has been found from elsewhere in the Universal Credit pot, so will take funds away from the same group of people – families on low and middle incomes. Supporting childcare is necessary and makes good politics, but rather than robbing Peter to pay Paul, DWP is essentially robbing Paul to pay Paul – albeit in a more politically attractive incarnation.”
