We need better-quality provision for young children, not the poorer quality, two-tier system the prime minister is planning
Among the enormous social changes of recent decades is the fact that having children need no longer curtail a woman’s career. In the early 1970s, only around half of women participated in the workforce; since then, the gap between male and female labour market participation has shrunk dramatically. And in recent years, researchers have found that young children benefit from formal childcare before they start school; it is associated with better cognitive and social development for children from all backgrounds, particularly for those from disadvantaged households.
Having a decent system of subsidised early education and childcare is therefore doubly advantageous. It can help to close the attainment gap. It reduces sex-based inequalities and promotes the economic wellbeing of families by lifting the key barrier to returning to work that disproportionately affects mothers. And it is good for the exchequer: much of the money spent subsidising childcare is recouped by the Treasury in the form of higher tax revenues as a result of higher lifetime female employment and earnings.
