Charity urges free childcare for poorest families
⢠Childrens charity Save The Children urges SNP to extend free childcare to families with two-year-olds living in poverty
⢠Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill will, if passed, provide 600 hours of funded childcare and early learning for three and four years olds, and two-year olds in care
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Hide AdThe SNP administration has already put forward legislation which will, if passed, provide 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year for three and four-year-olds and those two-year-olds who are in care.
The commitment is part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill which was published last month.
But the charity Save the Children is calling on ministers to go further and ensure that poorer families with two-year-olds can also benefit.
Claire Telfer, head of policy, advocacy and campaigns for the charity in Scotland, will today urge MSPs on Holyroodâs Equal Opportunities Committee to âexamine whether the Bill could go further and provide additional support for children living in poverty, in particular by extending the entitlement to all two-year-olds living in povertyâ.
The committee is considering childcare as part of the examination of the issues women face in the workplace.
Save the Children also wants parents struggling with poverty to be given extra help with the costs of out-of-school care, suggesting this could be provided by introducing an entitlement for publicly-funded out-of-school care for five to 14-year-olds in deprived areas.
In its submission to MSPs, the charity further urged the committee consider if a Swedish-style system for childcare support could be brought in, with fees calculated according to income and those families on the lowest incomes not having to pay for childcare.
Ms Telfer said: âLack of affordable, suitable childcare is a significant issue that determines parentsâ, particularly mothersâ, ability to participate in the labour market and is a complex area of policy.â
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Hide AdShe said childcare was a âvital service that supports parental employmentâ, adding that it should be seen as a âcore element of economic policy as well as childrenâs policyâ.
She stated: âSave the Children believes that the Scottish Government should prioritise measures to help parents living on the lowest incomes to meet the cost of childcare, as a first step in addressing the wider issues in relation to childcare.â
When the Bill was published last month, Childrenâs Minister Aileen Campbell said it would âimprove levels of care and support to children and families across the country through an increase in free and more flexible early learning and childcare from 475 to 600 hoursâ.
Ms Campbell said: âAs the First Minister has laid out, we are engaged in a transformation of childcare in Scotland, and have set the goal of matching the best standards of provision in Europe.
âThe Children and Young People Bill is an important step down the path to achieving that vision, but it is also only a first step.
âI am glad that Save the Children share our ambition for our country, our children and our future.â