Govt child care policy condemned

Briefing. The Government's policy is not to give mothers 'choice', but to corral them into paid work as soon as possible after their children are born. This is not what the overwhelming majority of mothers want, and study after study has shown that it is bad for the children. The Policy Exchange points out that a simple reallocation of Government money, from tax credits to child benefit, would give mothers the choice the Government claims to want them to have. Non-wage earners can't benefit from non-transferable tax credits: this is obviously a way to encourage mothers to start earning.

Hat-tip to Full Time Mothers. From the Telegraph, in part: Mothers should be paid to stay at home and raise their children, according to a report released today. The review found that most women wanted to work either part-time or not at all while their children were under five, but were prevented from doing so because state help for families had been channelled into tax credits.

The Policy Exchange think-tank is calling on the Government to scrap the current system of tax credits and grants in favour of a universal child care allowance - worth £60 per young child per week - that parents could keep or spend on a care provider. Maria Miller, the shadow family minister, will help to promote the report. She said: "Support for families in the first three years is still a neglected area of policy. Great strides have been made in some areas but many women are still feeling they have got really little choice in how they structure their family's life."

The report, entitled Little Britons, claims that billions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been wasted on formal child care when parents would prefer to care for their offspring at home.

Full story here.