Families could save £500 in free childcare project
A NEW childcare scheme for Glasgow would save lowincome families up to £500 a year.
Glasgow City Council has pledged to give certain parents up to 800 hours of free childcare in council nurseries.
This is 200 more than the Scottish Government standard of 600 hours for three and four-year-olds in council and partnership nurseries.
The aim is to ease the burden on working families and tackle in-work poverty.
Charlene Heffron, mum to three-year-old Brooke, will be a Glasgow parent benefitting from the new plans.
The 28-year-old works in catering but often has to turn down the chance to work extra hours as she has to care for her toddler.
She is also reliant on her mum for additional childcare but is concerned about the burden on Brooke’s gran as she has recently been diagnosed with arthritis.
Charlene, from Parkhead, said: “It would mean a lot to get the extra hours because I have been asked to take on more work and I have to say no because I need to deal with Brooke.
“It would definitely be a huge help to me because I don’t really have anybody else to help with childcare.
“If I didn’t have my mum then I would need to give up my job.
“It will help my mum’s health as well if she doesn’t have to take Brooke as often.
“Sometimes she has off days and it’s more of a struggle.
“The extra hours are a really good thing and will mean so much to working families.”
The new scheme is for parents who earn less than £25,000 and are in work or study.
Currently, a child who is in full time – 42 weeks – childcare will cost £227.42 every four weeks with 600 hours statutory hours.
If they qualify for the 800 free hours, then the four weekly cost to the family will reduce to £157.80.
The Scottish Government offer up to 600 free hours for three and four-year-olds in council and partnership nurseries. In Glasgow. this starts the term before the child’s third birthday.
Families will have more money in their pocket by upping their working hours or by saving money on childcare costs.
Liz Cameron, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Lifelong Learning, said: “This will make a huge difference to our working families.
“We are putting up to £500 extra in to their pockets over a year.
“By doing this we are targeting in-work poverty and helping working families.
“In Glasgow, we already offer our families in excess of the Scottish Government’s offer of 600 hours because we offer this to start from the term before the child’s third birthday in our own nurseries.”
Earlier this month, the Family and Childcare Trust released figures showing the average family in Scotland is having to find £111 per week to keep a child part-time in nursery.
Only one in four councils in Scotland were confident that there was enough child-care in their area for every parent that worked full time, the trust said.