The government has announced that free childcare is being extended to 260,000 children from low income families under new plans. The Leader of Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said that the government wanted to extend and widen the free support to all 2-year-olds’ parents who are receiving certain benefits, despite having “limited resources”. Thereby the number of 2-year-olds entitled to free childcare will double next year, by this measure.
A new survey found that more than seventy percent of non-working mothers don’t go for work and stay home to care for children, because paying for childcare is unaffordable for them. Families earning less than £16,190 a year would be benefited. Mr.Clegg added that other children to benefit from the change include youngsters with special educational needs, those in care and adopted children. The government will have to send £534 million this year and £780 million in 2014, for this scheme. If the scheme was not properly funded, it could fail, warned the Pre-School Learning Alliance. The closure of nurseries also would choke the delivery of free childcare, feared the Chief Executive of Family and Childcare Trust, Anand Shukla. He added that, at least 108 nurseries of England never got commissioned or were closed in the past years. The shadow education secretary, Stephen Twigg, was critical of the ambitious scheme, as he thought the extra nursery places needed for the plan is practically undeliverable.
