SALLY’S STORY

Sally Forster, from Newcastle, found her career was turned upside down following the birth of her twin girls. She planned to reduce her full-time job in a bank to three days after maternity leave, but her wages wouldn’t cover the nursery fees. Even with the government’s tax-free childcare scheme (in which the government covers 20% of childcare fees), Sally was worse off going back to her old job.

She stopped working and began claiming Universal Credit while considering her options. Sally now works as a self-employed singing teacher for 14 hours a week, with plans to increase her hours once her girls are eligible for the 30 free hours of childcare scheme. When those hours kick in, Sally will also have to pay a consumables charge to the nursery, who says the Government funding is simply not enough to support the 30 hours scheme in the face of rising energy and food prices.

“The system is so broken, it’s unreal,” says Sally. “No one should ever be better off by quitting their jobs.”

Ironically, on the day I wrote this article, I was told my three daughters’ nursery fees would be rising by £170 a month from April. Alongside a new mortgage deal that starts in May and the end of the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme, my husband and I have to find another £400 a month to cover our bills. I don’t know where it will come from. Reducing my working hours may be the only answer.

WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Research found that if women had access to adequate childcare and could work the hours they wanted, they would increase their earnings by between £7.6 billion and £10.9 billion per annum. This would generate up to £28.2 billion in economic output each year.

At last, the Government is finally listening to the pleas of working parents and the economic arguments.

In the Spring Budget statement on 15^th March this year, the Chancellor announced the extension of the 30 hours free childcare scheme for children aged nine months to three years, for parents working over 16 hours per week. The scheme will be rolled out from April 2024, with all eligible parents of under-fives receiving support by September 2025.

The Government will also pay the childcare costs of parents on Universal Credit moving into work or increasing hours upfront instead of in arrears.

Of course, these are hugely welcomed changes to a system that is failing working families.

But with a year to wait until the new funding roll-out begins, and two-and-a-half years until it reaches everyone, many North East women will continue to lose work or sacrifice their careers because they simply can’t afford to go to work.