CASE STUDY
KATE Lancaster never returned to her full-time job in marketing after having her second child because of the prohibitive cost of childcare.
So she welcomes the expansion of free childcare to one and two-yearolds as a ‘very positive step’ – but her family still faces a year of ‘crippling costs’ until it starts.
The 37-year-old from Chelmsford, Essex, now works part-time running a successful food blog, but the family still pays £1,600 a month for care for Violet, four, and Jude, one.
This would have been £2,400 if both parents worked full time. Her partner, Mike Goncalves, 35, is a brand ambassador and between them, they earn around £60,000 before tax each year.
She said: ‘Once I had my second child I was planning to go back, but it became apparent that wasn’t going to work.’ The new policy may allow her to work an extra day a week on her blog business, The Dairy-Free Mum.
But she added: ‘It will benefit us financially a little, but it’s not as quick as people were hoping, so it asks the question of what will happen in the next year.’
■ Case studies by ALICE WRIGHT and ISABELLE STANLEY