Alongside his April budget, Jeremy Hunt, who swooped in to rescue the disaster wrought by former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, announced a widening of the 30 hours free childcare previously applicable to only those 3-4 years’ old. While not up to everyone’s estimations, it was music to the ears of cash-strapped parents who have faced mounting childcare costs over the past ten years.

Those eligible for the existing scheme get 30 hours free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year (during school term time) – and, if using fewer than 30 hours per week, recipients can spread it over 52 weeks. From April 2024, this will apply to two-year-olds (15 hours), then from September 2024 it will apply to those between nine months and two years. Finally, from September 2025, children between nine months and three years will receive 30 hours.

The scheme is available to people in employment and those on certain benefits. People that do not work are exempt, presumably because not working means they have time to care for their children themselves. Those with an ‘adjusted net income’ of over £100,000 per year are also exempt. Full eligibility criteria is available on gov.uk.

The government made the move for economic reasons. Against a backdrop of mounting inflation and stagnating GDP, the Tories predict that 60,000 parents may return to the workforce with the help of the scheme, those same parents having opted to care for their children themselves rather than pay extortionate prices for childcare. The CBI business group forecasts that, despite costing several billion, the free care could generate up to £10bn in further revenue.

Modern parenting, or just a phase?
The move has coincided with a push from (some) companies to get employees back in the office. As early as June 2022, Elon Musk stated that Tesla employees must come in for a minimum of 40 hours per week, or “pretend to work somewhere else”. It is less than required for factory staff, he added. In February, Amazon followed suit, mandating three days in. Their leadership team cited company culture, idea generation, and in-person learning as areas that had suffered during the WFH years.

Employees have returned to the office, but not at the same rate. Recently released US government data show that the share of men who worked at least partly at home dropped from 35% in 2021, to 28% in 2022. For women, this changed by a smaller margin – from 41.5% to 41%. One explanation for this gender disparity is that women do more housework and childcaring than men. 47% of women reported doing housework on an average day, while only 22% of men did. Equally, women with children under six spent just over an hour providing physical care (i.e. bathing/feeding), while men spent half an hour on such tasks.

While the Chancellor made it clear the 30 hours free childcare was a tactic to get women working again, a secondary outcome may be the return of women to the office, evening up the gender divide. This should have a positive economic impact for the firms that employ them, for the reasons cited by Amazon above, but will also drive increased footfall in businesses based near workplaces.