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13th September 2024
02:35pm BST
A call for increased government support for stay-at-home parents has been made, with the argument that it would provide more options for families and better outcomes for children.
Wendy Grace, a broadcaster and columnist, has suggested that parents should have the power to decide how childcare funding is allocated - whether to a creche, a family member, or to themselves if they choose to stay home.
Grace expressed her frustration with the current government policy during an interview on The Hard Shoulder.
She believes the government is failing to listen to the preferences of parents who wish to care for their children at home.
“I find it extraordinary that the Government, time and time again, is ignoring the needs of what parents actually want,” Grace said.
“When you look at every piece of research or polling that's been done, people are asked if they could stay at home with their children in the early years - if money wasn’t a barrier—would they like to do that? Seventy percent say they would.”
Grace criticised the current approach, where the government subsidises childcare services outside the home but not parents who wish to care for their own children.
"What they're doing is just ignoring [parents] and saying, 'We will subsidise childcare, we will pay anybody but you to look after your own children, even when that's what you actually want.'"
Grace is advocating for a more flexible system where the funding “follows the child.”
She proposes a model in which the subsidy could be directed to various caregivers based on the parents' choice, such as a grandparent, a creche, or even the parent themselves if they decide to stay at home.
"I can't understand why there can't be a system where the money follows the child," she said.
According to Grace, the current approach funnels funding into one specific direction, ignoring the diverse needs and preferences of families.
“We're saying we're going to funnel it all in one direction,” she added.
Grace also highlighted a contradiction in government policies.
"They're actually speaking out of both sides of their mouth because their own policy on children basically says international research shows that, in the early years, if possible, it's best to have a primary caregiver at home," she noted.
Many parents, Grace argued, are forced to leave their homes due to financial constraints, even when they would prefer to stay with their young children.
"I know there are parents across the country who would love to have been at home in the early years with their small children, but they couldn't because, by economic necessity, they have to leave their home," she said.
"We used to make the joke about women being 'chained to the sink'; now there are women across the country who feel they're chained to their desk."
Grace dismissed the idea that supporting more stay-at-home parents would harm the labour force.
She pointed to examples from Nordic countries, where more flexible policies have not led to a significant gender pay gap.
"When you look at Nordic countries where they're way better at this than us, the gender pay gap actually isn't that much different here," she explained.
She argued that by continuing to prioritise institutionalised childcare over supporting parents who want to stay at home, the government is neglecting to encourage economic flexibility.
"If we keep funnelling money into institutionalised child care and ignoring parents who want to stay at home, we're actually creating an economy where we're not encouraging flexibility," Grace said.
Grace also emphasised the need for greater workplace flexibility to allow parents to balance career ambitions with their desire to stay at home with their children.
"There is no reason why I can't be the CEO of any company and work part-time and flexibly if that was something that we fought for," she concluded.
Wendy Grace’s comments highlight the need for a reassessment of childcare policies to better support the diverse needs of families.
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