‘Generational shift' in free childcare will give women freedom, says Phillipson
Women will be given added 'freedom' to have more children by expanded government-funded childcare, the Education Secretary has said.
Starting Monday, working parents of children who turn nine months old before September 1 can apply to access up to 30 hours of free childcare per week, until their child is old enough to start school.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the Daily Mail the scheme, originally introduced by the previous Conservative government, would give working mothers more freedom to balance work and family life.
'They will be able to make choices about the career that's right for them, the hours that they want, but also [have] the freedom to think about family size and how many children they want to have, with support from the Government around childcare hours,' she said.
'That brings huge benefits to working women and this is a generational shift in terms of the new funding that's been put in place.'
The expansion of funded childcare began being rolled out in England in April last year for working parents of two-year-olds.
Working parents of children older than nine months are currently able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September.
The Labour Government announced up to to 4,000 childcare places are set to be rolled out at new or expanded school-based nurseries in England from September.
Ms Phillipson said she had been 'flat out to make sure we've got as many places available as possible'.
The Department for Education (DfE) has approved the first round of funding for 300 school-based nursery projects across England.
Ministers @bphillipsonMP and @AnnelieseDodds on how we're improving the quality and accessibility of childcare, opening up more choices for women and their families, and putting more pounds in their pockets. pic.twitter.com/XuGpFEh6fC
— Office for Equality and Opportunity (@oeogovuk) February 13, 2025
Each successful school, which were able to apply for up to £150,000, will receive the amount of funding they bid for to repurpose or extend existing spaces and deliver childcare provision.
The first 300 school-based nurseries will offer an average of 20 places per site and up to 6,000 new places in total, with up to 4,000 set to be available by the end of September, the DfE said.
It comes after schools were able to bid for a share of £15 million funding in October to deliver up to 300 new or expanded nurseries across England.
Labour said in its manifesto that it would open an additional 3,000 nurseries through 'upgrading space' in primary schools.
Jason Elsom, chief executive of Parentkind, said: 'Parents often struggle with finding good quality childcare, and many will welcome this investment, especially as parents with more than one child may be saved from the mad dash from nursery to school in the morning and afternoon.'
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