Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed comments;
“Childcare and early years education has been neglected by this Government with devastating consequences for children and parents. Our research found that for three quarters of mothers it doesn’t make financial sense for them to work, with prices set to increase further, we will see more parents forced out of their jobs and into poverty. This isn’t a ‘mummy issue’ this is an issue for the whole of society – it contributes to the skills gap, it inhibits economic growth, and it ensures only the very wealthy can access early years education for their children thereby entrenching inequality.”
”The data showing significant issues in accessing childcare for disabled children demonstrates how bad this situation has become. Do these children not matter? We know that families with a disabled child are more likely to live in poverty, a lack of childcare undoubtedly exacerbates economic inequalities between families of disabled and non disabled children.”
”If parents cannot afford or cannot access the childcare they need then we cannot rebuild our economy. Despite years of campaigns, reports, protests and letters, there is still no plan or strategy to deal with this issue, meanwhile the situation is drastically deteriorating. The solution is staring the Government in the face – invest in childcare and early years education, and enable both children and the economy to flourish.”
➡️Pregnant Then Screwed will be delivering a letter signed by over 50,000 parents to Rishi Sunak, and Jeremy Hunt this Thursday at 2.12pm to urge them to invest in early years education and care in the upcoming Spring budget. Read the letter here.
➡️Just last week, new research from Pregnant Then Screwed revealed that 75% of mothers who pay for childcare, say it no longer makes financial sense for them to work.
The new report revealed the knock-on effect of ever-increasing childcare costs; in fact, 1 in 10 (11%) parents now say that childcare costs are the same or more than their take-home pay per day. For a staggering 1 in 5 parents (22%), childcare costs are more than half of their household income. Additionally a staggering, 54% of parents who use either formal or informal childcare have had to reduce the number of hours they work due to childcare cost or availability. Read more.