Ed Miliband plots new campaign on rising costs of childcare

[dutchman]

Labour will bring in new proposals to help working parents with the rising costs of childcare, Ed Miliband pledges today.



The Labour leader gave a clear hint that dealing with the rising costs of hiring a child minder will be the next battle ground in his campaign on the cost of living.

The news will make the Coalition nervous after plans by Liz Truss, the Tory education minister, to allow nursery teachers to educate more children to bring down how much it cost to look after them were vetoed after objections from the Liberal Democrats.

Official figures show that high child care charge in the UK mean that 66 per cent of mothers in the UK work, fewer than France (72 per cent), Denmark (86 per cent), the Netherlands (78 per cent) or Germany (69 per cent).

In a new year message, which is posted on the internet today, Mr Miliband said Britain was “in the midst of the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation”.

Specifically Labour would be campaigning on measure to bring down the cost of childcare in 2014, after successfully targeting energy and pay day loan companies.

He said: “People do not want the earth. They would much prefer some very specific promises, specific things about what a government will do - whether it’s freezing energy bills, taking action on pay day lenders, or tackling issues around childcare which lots of working parents face. All of this is adding up to a programme for how we can change things. It’s clearly costed, it’s credible and it’s real.”

The party is understood to be examining whether it can fund “a big offer” on childcare in its manifesto for the 2015 general election.

One suggestion is for the part to commit to a pledge to bring in universal state-funded childcare for preschool-age children.

A report from the Labour leaning Institute for Public Policy Research argued that a huge expansion of childcare would pay for itself over time.

This was because many mothers would go back to work if there were better affordable childcare.

The IPPR suggested that attracting 280,000 women back into the labour market would save almost £1.5billion in extra tax revenue and lower spending on benefits and tax credits.

Family policies are expected to be at the heart of Labour’s manifesto to win the 2015 general election.

[rebbonk]

You have kids, you pay for them!