Election 2024: Party Manifestos
- Click here for Action Pack: National Election 2024
- Click here for Action Pack: National Election 2024
Where do different political parties stand on childcare, supporting families and choice for parents?
We passionately believe that for many children, being cared for in the family home by a loving parent offers the strongest foundation for health and happiness. We know that most mothers want to spend more rather than less time caring for their own children. And we know it is family, parenting and the home learning environment which have the most significant influence on children’s behaviour, development and achievement.
So, with all our political parties promising to ensure children have “the best start in life”, where exactly do they stand on early years care, parental choice and the value of family life?
(This post does not offer an analysis of these policies nor does it endorse any particular party. It is purely for information purposes. Mothers At Home Matter have written our own MAHMifesto, as well as Questions for Candidates which you might like to consider when engaging with local candidates, both of which are available in the digital action pack.)
Maria Lyons & Catherine Kenny
Conservative Party
The Conservatives plan “to deliver a brighter future for the UK, one where families are supported and children are given the best chance to gain the skills they need to succeed.” They pledge to deliver “the largest ever expansion of childcare in history”.
From September 2024, eligible parents of children between nine months and two years old will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare.
From September 2025, all eligible parents with children from nine months old to when they start school will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare a week.
Once the rollout is completed, the Conservatives project that families accessing these schemes “will save an average of £6,900 per year”.
To give working parents “more flexibility,” they pledge to invest £300 million so that all parents can access wraparound childcare before and after school by September 2026.
The Conservatives pledge to expand Family Hub provision across every Local Authority in England to support families until children reach adulthood. Existing Family Hubs back families in the early years by helping with things like breastfeeding support, antenatal care and early learning interventions, in addition to providing services like relationship support, smoking cessation, and youth services.
The Conservatives also state that “it isn’t fair that single earner households can start losing their Child Benefit when a household with two working parents and a much higher total income can keep it in full.” They will end this unfairness by moving to a household rather than individual basis for Child Benefit.
Read the full Conservative Manifesto here
Labour Party
Labour’s manifesto recognises that “families are essential for giving children the best,“ going on to lay out a plan for childcare and early education to give “every child life chances and every parent work choices,” pledging that:
Childcare will be available and accessible: promising over three thousand new nursery classes across England to open up access to childcare hours for families.
Childcare will support our children to achieve and thrive: Labour will deliver half a million more children hitting the Early Learning Goals by 2030.
Childcare will be affordable: Labour will support three-quarters of a million more parents to re-enter the labour market.
Childcare won’t end when children start school: Labour will provide free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England to give parents choices for an earlier start to the working day.
Labour also plan to “improve coordination between education, social care and the wider services that support families by piloting the expansion of a “children’s number” that stays with children across different services “for their whole childhoods”.
Liberal Democrat Party
The Liberal Democrats state that protecting the rights and well-being of children and “ensuring they are properly nourished” are “top priorities”.
Their manifesto recognises that “families come in all shapes and sizes, and parents should have the support and flexibility to juggle work with parenting as they see fit”. It also recognises that “affordable childcare is only part of the picture”, promising to“ overhaul parental leave to give parents a genuine choice over how to manage things in the first months of their child’s life.”
They also pledge to:
Appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People
Double Statutory Maternity and Shared Parental Pay to £350 a week and introduce an extra use-it-or-lose-it month for fathers and partners, paid at 90% of earnings
Make all parental pay and leave day-one rights, and extend them to self-employed parents
Protect and support the rights and wellbeing of every child by:
Incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law
Setting up an independent advocacy body for children’s safety online
Addressing the underfunding and neglect of children’s mental health services, youth services and youth justice services
Tackling child poverty
Restore childminding as a valued part of the early years system by:
Replacing the three different current registration processes with a single childcare register
Commissioning a practitioner-led review to simplify regulation, reduce administrative burdens and attract new childminders while maintaining high standards
Reform Party
Reform UK “believes that strong families are the bedrock of a thriving society”, pledging to “give parents back control”. Interestingly, in Reform UK’s “contract” document, the word childcare is not used once.
The section on Children and Families, states that Reform would “support marriage through the tax system” and offer more “choice for stay-at-home Mums or Dads”, recognising that “the majority of mothers would choose to stay home more if they could”.
Reform pledge to “introduce a UK 25% transferable marriage tax allowance. This would mean no tax on the first £25,000 of income for either spouse. This will help make work pay and incentivise people trapped on benefits back into the workplace.”
They also advocate for “front-loading the Child Benefit system for children aged 1-4” to “give parents the choice to spend more time with their children.”
Green Party
The ‘Easy Years’ section of the Green Party’s manifesto states that, “pre-school education should be focused on play and on supporting young children to safely explore the world around them. It can also assist families to access work and other opportunities”.
Their manifesto states that Green MPs will advocate:
For £1.4bn per year to be invested by local authorities in Sure Start Centres
In negotiation with the sector, to extend the outgoing government’s offer of childcare to 35 hours per week from nine months
They also pledge to “abolish the two-child benefit cap, lifting 250, 000 children out of poverty.”
Scottish National Party
TBC
Scottish Family Party
The Scottish Family Party believes that “strong families make for a strong nation,” stating that “we value parenthood. Bringing new life into the world and then caring for and nurturing children as they grow into adulthood is one of life’s noblest endeavours.” They believe that family autonomy is crucial, stating that, “there are many ways to be a good parent, and, with few exceptions, parents should be free to raise their children according to their own values.”
On childcare, the party states that “each family should make its own decisions in this area, and the state’s role is to facilitate these choices“. To give parents choice, they would:
Offer cash in lieu of formal childcare provision for families deciding they do not want their young child to spend so long away from a parent. “A family wanting their child to go to nursery in the morning but not the afternoon as well would be entitled to a substantial payment instead.”
Instead of treating married couples as two individuals for tax purposes, move to a system that assesses them as a family
Increase child benefit payments and make them available regardless of family size
Offer Council Tax discounts for all families with dependent children
Free entry for accompanied children to Government agency and Council-run attractions, such as historic sites, museums and swimming pools
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru highlight that 1 in 3 children are currently growing up in poverty. A key pledge of theirs is to: “Help 330,000 Welsh families to deal with the cost of living crisis by increasing Child Benefit by £20 per week. This will take 60,000 children out of poverty [in Wales].”
“Child benefit is received by 94% of children in Wales, so we believe this to be the most effective way of providing support to families. It would allow them to plan their finances and make responsible decisions in the face of a cost-of-living crisis that has forced so many into poverty.”
They also pledge to “scrap the Conservative policy of the ‘two-child’ limit on universal credit payments, one of the key drivers of child poverty, and end the benefit cap which stops families from claiming the full amount.”
On Early Years they say: "Plaid Cymru secured extended childcare provision through the Cooperation Agreement, but our ambition goes further. Our vision is for a national and free Welsh-medium early years education and childcare service, Meithrin Cymru, providing high-quality provision for children aged 12 months until they are eligible for full-time education.”
