UK Getting It ‘Totally Wrong’ on Soaring Child Care Costs
With the country’s nursery bills the most expensive in the OECD, calls for reform are growing louder.
Parents and children at the March of the Mummies protest in London demanding better child-care, parental leave and flexible working policies.
Photographer: Steve Taylor/Sipa/AP Photo
Of the multitude of problems plaguing the UK, one issue is rising toward the top of the pile—and it has nothing to do with Brexit.
Calls to tackle the exorbitant cost of early-years child care are growing louder ahead of the next general election, due within two years. There’s no easy fix for a system that’s become dominated by private interests, and any meaningful reform would likely require an injection of public funds at a time when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is focused on tightening spending to bring down inflation.