Women’s Equality Party:
Cost of Childcare Crisis brief
At RISE 2022, Mandu Reid, the Party Leader of the Women’s Equality Party spoke on how to make a political impact on a shoe-string budget. She said:
“My experience with the Women’s Equality Party has taught me two important things: Firstly… I’ve learned that creating political leverage in this climate can be done on a shoestring, but it requires flexibility, resilience, and innovation. We’re constantly shifting our approach - and that makes us unpredictable… a force to be reckoned with. A second thing I’ve learned is that action does not need to be large-scale, elaborate, or complex in order to be powerful.
All of you will know that childcare in this country is punishingly expensive, and within most families it is overwhelmingly shouldered by mothers.
Introducing free, universal child care is a radical and desperately needed intervention to revolutionise our economy and our society.”
She issued the challenge to adland: the brief below.
Women’s Equality Party: Cost of Childcare Crisis brief
the issue
The cost of childcare is punishing, in particular for parents on low incomes or in education or training. While some parents choose to spend time at home with young children, hundreds of thousands of stay-at-home parents report they would prefer to work if they could afford to do so. Introducing free, universal child care from the end of maternity leave would revolutionise care services in the UK creating long-term benefits for children, parents and the economy.
Currently, it is overwhelmingly mothers who are expected to carry most of the caring responsibilities for children, a key driver of the pay and pension gap. Free, universal child care would give families much-needed financial relief during the cost of living crisis (nearly a third of children now grow up in poverty in the UK), while lifting the burden of unpaid care, investing in green jobs and providing a boost to the economy.
the outcome
The public perception of rising childcare costs shifts from an ‘inconvenience that must be dealt with by individuals who have brought it on themselves’ to an ‘injustice that affects our future and requires a political solution’.
the context
There are 14 million parents with dependent children across the UK. Parents, as a voter block, could swing the outcome at the next general election. Childcare is rarely perceived as a vote-defining issue, which means politicians have little incentive to address the spiralling costs of childcare. WEP wants to change that. Lack of childcare forcing women to take career breaks is one of the key drivers of the pay and pension gap:
2021 research shows women would have to work for an average of 54.5 years to reach the same levels of pension savings that men would achieve in 40 years.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that childcare and women working part-time was a significant contributing factor to the gender pay gap - in couples, by the time a first child is aged 20, many mothers earn nearly a third less than their co-parents.
Childcare costs are also a driver of foodbank use and child poverty.
Key facts and statistics:
The UK has the third highest childcare costs in the developed world
Just 60% of local authorities in England and less than half in Wales (68% and 41% respectively) have enough childcare for parents working full time.
Less than one in four local authorities have enough childcare available for children needing after school care, parents working outside normal office hours, or disabled children.
Lack of affordable childcare is also a barrier for those on low incomes, unemployed, or wishing to undertake training or education
One in every 20 new mothers in the workplace are made redundant during pregnancy, maternity leave or return to work
Over a third of mothers who return to work make a loss, or break even, due to the unaffordable cost of childcare
Almost two thirds (61.7%) of those who return to work either work fewer hours, have changed jobs or stopped working due to child care costs
Using average income and average daily cost of childcare, the average person could spend 53% of their income on childcare
The Women’s Budget Group has evidenced investing in care yields more than twice (2.7) the number of jobs as investing in construction, and recoup more for the Treasury in direct and indirect taxes
cost of living crisis
The cost of childcare is rising at above inflation rates
Food prices are set to rise by 8% this year
Energy costs are set to rise by 50%, with further increases in the autumn. It is expected that high energy costs will persist for at least ten years
Cost increases are set to push more than 14m people into fuel poverty this year
Free, universal child care would help to alleviate the cost of living crisis and will stimulate the economy, but we have to campaign for it in the context of many other urgent demands for increased financial support during the crisis - many of which we will support as a party.
WEP aims to reflect a diverse and inclusive view of parenthood in all our communications. Any campaign must reflect the experiences of single, LGBTQ+, Disabled and Black, Asian, Multi-Ethnic and minoritised parents. We want to recognise at all stages that childcare is serious work, and currently the childcare workforce is underpaid and undervalued.
our approach
our policy
Free, universal childcare across the UK from the end of paid parental leave at nine months - 40 hours a week available for 48 weeks a year
the audience
Parents (with a particular focus on mothers), particularly those with young children
key message
The spiralling cost of childcare is forcing families into poverty - we need a radical solution.
deliverables required
Shareable, interactive online assets for organic social
A campaign stunt or action
This could be online or in person, it must create strong visuals and it’s always a plus to have a way that activists from across the UK can participate.