In the recent budget, the Westminster government announced major reforms to childcare in England.
They plan to expand free childcare, which is currently available for three- and four-year-olds, to all eligible children under five.
Whilst I welcome this support for young families, I am frustrated that parents like me who are training in higher education will be left in the lurch. There are no plans to make the scheme available to parents in full time education and PhD stipend rules can make it challenging to access support even if you are doing paid work. The UK has some of the highest childcare costs in the world and this is a barrier to higher education for parents.
Childcare in the UK is expensive, especially for parents living on student loans or PhD stipends. The charity Coram surveyed local authorities in Britain and estimated that the average cost of sending an under-two-year-old to nursery full-time (50 hours/week) across Great Britain is a whopping £14,030 per annum. It is not feasible for parents who study to rely on student loans or stipends to cover childcare and living expenses. For example, my PhD stipend is roughly equal to the cost of my son’s childcare. This is normal for parents doing funded PhDs.
