Parents of children under two now pay on average over £5000 a year on childcare, with costs increasing much faster than either earnings or inflation. In response, both the government and Labour have launched Childcare Commissions as vehicles for developing new ideas. Ministers have today asked for the views of ‘everyday experts’ –- parents, childminders and nursery owners –- in a consultation period lasting until the end of August.
So far, so unspectacular. But there are a couple of reasons to think that childcare -– traditionally a second or third tier issue -– could become a key political battleground between now and 2015.
First, electoral maths. Those struggling with high childcare costs are precisely those mainstream working families, often without a strong party allegiance, who will decide the next election. Childcare has the potential to help underpin a broad coalition of low and middle income voters, with a huge premium for the party seen as most on the side of work, modern family life and children’s life chances.
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