Ministers urged to povertyproof early years childcare

A charity is calling on the Scottish Government to “poverty-proof ” the future of early years childcare by expanding funded places to children under three.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) says the First Minister should follow through on his commitment in the SNP leadership contest.

A report from the charity models the impact of an offer of 25 hours per week for all one and two-year-olds and 35 hours for all three and fouryear-olds.

The report says this could reduce poverty by up to 2.9 percentage points by 2030.

Fully funding these places would cost more than £2 billion a year so the JRF has recommended low-income families should be prioritised.

A survey of more than 500 parents, carried out in October, shows they highly value early years childcare but 82 per cent said the high costs are a downside of the current offer. Some 65 per cent said they would work more if there was more free childcare provision.

Jack Evans, JRF senior policy adviser, said: “The waitand-see approach to childcare in Scotland risks leaving thousands of families behind.

“A lack of affordable options is a significant barrier to low-income parents escaping poverty. The cost of childcare must not lock people in financial insecurity, closing the door to the labour market. By reducing early years childcare costs, we can dramatically increase household disposable income, with the biggest impact seen for low-income families.”

In 2023, Humza Yousaf pledged to expand free childcare available for one and twoyear-olds.