Parents missing out on childcare due to ‘overly complicated, disjointed and confused’ system

Many parents are missing out on the childcare help they’re entitled to because it is too difficult to understand what they are entitled to or how their child can benefit.

That is the view of the Senedd’s Equalities and Social Justice Committee, which has called on the Welsh Government to fix a childcare system so “overly complicated and disjointed” that families don’t claim support.

It comes as the committee releases its findings of an inquiry into childcare provision in Wales.

‘Confused and fragmented’

There are three different schemes in Wales, each with different eligibility criteria; some depending on where the child lives.

This means parents often have to make multiple applications to get the childcare that they are entitled to.

During the inquiry The Bevan Foundation told the Committee that half of eligible parents do not access the Childcare Offer scheme.

The Committee’s report, ‘Their Future: Our Priority?’, says the current system is ‘confused and fragmented’ and urges the Welsh Government to merge the different childcare funds into one single stream to make it easier for parents to claim the support that is available.

With the summer holidays beginning next week, the Committee heard that many parents will struggle to arrange childcare around work with family members having to step in where formal childcare is unavailable.

Barely surviving

The report also calls out the Welsh Government for the lack of progress in addressing long-standing problems in the ‘confusing’ childcare system despite a 2022 report by the Committee highlighting many of the same issues.

This included the need for the Welsh Government to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for childcare information.

A major concern of the Committee is the fragility of the childcare sector.

A survey by Early Years Wales found that over a quarter of providers were not confident they could survive for another year.

Over nine in 10 reported that the £5 an hour funding formula for the Childcare Offer, which hasn’t been uprated since 2022, does not cover their costs.

Jenny Rathbone MS, Chair of the Equalities and Social Justice Committee, said: “Listening to parents and childcare workers across Wales, it is clear that the fragmented and complex childcare system needs major improvement.

“We want the Welsh Government to merge three fundings streams into a single programme as soon as feasible.

“The evidence from Estonia, the Nordic countries and Canada, as well as experts in the UK emphasises that early years education and care is one of the most important investments any country can make. Integrated universal provision combats inequalities for children from lower income households.

“We hope to inspire the Welsh Government to make early years education and care a central priority for the rest of this Senedd term.”