Telegraph.
Nursery fees could be subsidised by the state after Nick Clegg promised he would work to end the “nightmare” of high child care bills.He'd actually do better to look at exactly why the UK's child care costs are the highest in Europe, rather than as is the usual socialist solution to rob Peter to pay Paul.
The Deputy Prime Minister said it was absurd that hundreds of thousands of women felt it was not worth returning to work after having a baby because child care was so expensive.
In the first of a series of “informal” emails to party supporters, the Liberal Democrat leader disclosed that he would be lobbying in Whitehall for more money to be spent on reducing the cost of nursery places.
One policy likely to be considered is increasing the state-funded free child care allowance for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 25.
The Lib Dems are expected to press for changes in talks with David Cameron and George Osborne ahead of the Chancellor’s autumn Budget statement next month.
Currently, an estimated one million women who could work are not doing so, partly because child care costs in Britain are among the highest in Europe.
Parents are spending up to £15,000 a year on nursery fees, while part-time child care in London costs up to £130 a week, recent figures suggest.
There are several reasons for high childcare costs, the minimum wage, the cost of building rent and insurance and the cost of CRB registration for staff turnover. No doubt there are others, but those are the main ones I can think of.
Yes the reason childcare costs are so high is because the state has made them high, not because childcare provider are (necessarily) greedy. That plus the current UK trend of more or less insisting that dual income is a necessity in order to afford ever more new thins (or simply make ends meet) means that women need childcare provision, yet are wondering why they bother as the extra work they do unless they are really well paid simply covers the childcare costs.
So what is Cleggs solution? Well he wants to shake the magic money tree to subsidise the costs, rather than remove the legislation which makes it so expensive. He wants the taxpayer, many of whom do not have kids in childcare to subsidise those who do.
Is anyone else out there sick of their taxes going to pay for people not to work or paying for the childcare costs of those who do?
Clegg really doesn't get it, or if he does he doesn't care, after all he's stinking rich.
IT'S MY MONEY YOU GREEDY BASTARDS, KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF IT!
Clear enough?
2 annotations:
A sharp reduction in allowances for those not working may also help.
The Cleggeron, realising that he may not manage to sabotage the government's intention to cut Child Benefit for the comfortably-off, is simply trying to re-instate it by the back door.
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