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IEA - Further subsidies ignore the cause behind expensive childcare
Government action is responsible for the rising cost of childcare
Commenting on the government’s decision to bring forward plans to double free childcare, Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“The fact is that heavy-handed government regulation is making childcare more and more expensive in the UK. So, yesterday’s announcement is effectively an attempt to deal with the symptoms of a problem caused largely by the government itself.
“Politicians need to wake up to the root cause behind the high cost of childcare. Rather than channelling more money into the industry, the government should do-away with some existing regulations and stop trying to formalise all childcare.
“Onerous red tape in the form of qualifications and staff-to-children ratios, combined with an increasing emphasis on nursery becoming a form of pre-primary education have drastically pushed up the cost of caring for a child.”
Notes to editors:
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