I have seen the 30 free hours childcare everywhere the last few weeks and it upsets me quite a bit; as a parent this sounds amazing. Why shouldn’t you be happy about having to pay a lot less if nothing at all for your childcare? But there is something that the government doesn’t tell everyone, and it is only the people who work with the children that will know.
The 30 free hours childcare is not free, not to the nurseries and childminders that are giving the service anyway. Parents may not need to pay anything but it is the childcare facilities that are coming up short when the government is ‘paying’ for your free hours.
It is a bad time for nurseries at the moment and sadly I have seen quite a few closures over the last couple of months whilst the introduction of the 30 free hours is being rolled out. Nurseries simply can’t afford to make up the shortfall and this is forcing them into closure – some very good nurseries too.
Why are nurseries closing?
I will make this one pretty easy for you to understand – or at least I will try.
The nurseries have their set charges/fees in place for parents, but this doesn’t mean that they will get paid this by the government. The government have different rate bands for different areas on what they are willing to pay for the 30 free hours but if that doesn’t meet the nurseries breakeven rate then these nurseries will simply crash and burn.
Let’s say your nursery charges £4ph per child; but in that area the government is only willing to pay £3ph per child. That gives the nursery a shortfall of £1ph, and if there are 30 children within the nursery that qualify for free hours then that leaves the nursery with a shortfall of £30ph. Doesn’t seem so free now does it?
So how can nurseries counteract this shortfall?
Some nurseries have managed to get around this by putting additional charges on top of fees. Additional fees for food and extra curricular activities seem to be the most popular. But is that sustainable?
Do nurseries and childminders have to offer the free hours?
Of course, you might be unaware but nurseries and childminders do not have to offer the 30 free hours childcare. So if you qualify for the free hours and your current nursery isn’t going to be offering it, then you will have to think about moving nurseries in order to take up the free hours. This means uprooting your children and them having to make new bonds and form new relationships with a whole new staff team and a brand new circle of friends.
Quality childcare comes at a price
If we want quality childcare for our children then it is something that we have to pay for. I feel that the 30 free hours is making childcare seem like a route for low paid workers. Nurseries won’t be able to sustain wages for graduate employees if they are deciding to offer the free hours; this means that quality and knowledgeable staff will seek employment elsewhere. We obviously want the best for our children, but it comes at a price.
This funding rate is fixed until the end of this Parliament. So what are nurseries meant to do with the annual increases of the National Living Wage, increasing pension auto-enrolment costs, rises in business rates, inflation on food, fuel and utilities? The Department for Education seems to be ignoring basic economics.
My final thoughts
I’ve mentioned numerous times before about how important the early years are. This is where children develop skills that they will have for the rest of their lives. So why is the childcare sector being looked at at a way to cut costs? Unfortunately I don’t think a lot of nurseries will cope with the 30 hours free childcare. My personal feeling is that a lot of them will be forced into closure. Either that or they refuse to offer the funded hours full stop.
Click here to check if you’re eligible for the free funded hours.
How do you now feel about the 30 free hours childcare?
Yeap a great post. I’m an Early Years teacher and this is the reality for so many pre-schools and nurseries. In Wiltshire the nurseries cannot top up either so have to think of creative ways to make their short fall. This government has done nothing for Education at all and have taken away much excellent work done in the past (children’s centres etc). The other thing that many parents don’t realise is that although many Early Years staff are highly trained as Graduates, they are paid next to nothing. It’s totally the wrong way round. Think of this too….why are the government offering these free” hours? We all know that quality preschool provision helps those children who need it most but the hours are there primarily to get parents back to the workforce. That’s it. The quality is being eroded and it’s a scandal. I’ll stop now! Like I said….a really great post.
Anything that any government gives for free is never free. Politicians aren’t digging into their own pockets for these services. Ultimately we all pay for every cent we are given. It’s actually likely to cost more as now they have to pay people to organize the whole thing and keep it running. #FabFridayPost
My daughter goes to a small preschool and they’ve been asking people what their plans are for september so that they can make sure they can afford to open. We pay for extra activities already, so I’m not sure if this route will help them. It will be sad if they close as its a lovely preschool. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
I’m not actually going to be eligible for the 30 free hours, but I’ve heard from lots of people that it’s causing real problems. I’ve even heard some people who are now going to be paying more for their nursery fees once the 15 extra hours come in, due to the way that their nursery have tried to make up the shortfall! I absolutely love our nursery – the staff are wonderful and the facilities are great – but we definitely pay a huge price for that service. I find it upsetting that they will be losing out once the free hours come in – and even more so for a few of my friends who are childminders. Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
Thank you for this informative article – as a Pre-school manager, it is great to see such support out there for us.
Hi, I’m a childminder and I’ll be offering the funded childcare in September but only to the two eligible children I already have in my care. The local funding rate is lower than my normal hourly rate but for these children I’m willing to take a pay cut. I love the children and their families as my own and whilst I know they wouldn’t remove the children from my care, I don’t think it’s fair they should lose out on the funding they’re entitled to. I also dislike the unfairness this could create with in my business, I will have several other parents paying £4 an hour for their child but the government / local authority are only paying me £3.50 an hour for the funded children. We have been told we are not allowed to charge for extras/top up as this then stops the funding being free??? The government really need to rethink this funding if they want to really help working parents
Great post jade. I am a childminder and I don’t accept government funding and never will. Luckily it hasn’t been a problem for me as of yet. I’m always busy as there arnt any other childminders in my area ? I personally think it’s a bad idea and 15 hours was enough. I knew some parents work all the hours and need the help but with childcare vouchers in place most working parents can save a lot on their childcare anyway.
Evelyn’s nursery only operate in the mornings, so the free 30 hours for us doesn’t apply. Of course we can move her to another nursery, but it is far and I don’t drive. Beside that, she is only just 3 yo last weekend – I think I can hold on to her a little bit longer before she starts Reception next year – which is a full day. I do understands the pressure on not only on parents but nurseries too. Thank you for highlighting this issue on #FabFridayPost linky.
We are currently in this dilemma as our childminder doesn’t offer the free hours. As you say, do we uproot him and try to find somewhere that will offer the free hours? Or do we stay put and forgo them, because we know that Baby Lighty is happy? Totally don’t blame the childminder for not offering them either, it’s such a tricky situation all round.
Yeah I agree, I don’t think parents realise that the childminders and nurseries are going to be losing money through the 30 free hours. It’s not something that has been highlighted for obvious reasons. It’s a tricky situation for sure and I hope you manage to sort it out 🙂