Is more childcare going to be good for babies and toddlers? Putting to one side for the moment the important questions of whether the new expansion of childcare will help mothers back to work (something that is debatable) and whether the majority of mothers would prefer childcare to caring for their babies themselves (also worth a debate), this important question is not being discussed in the public response.

The Chancellor has listened to the cry of childcare but is he prepared for the cry of separation? Mr Hunt has put another nail in the coffin for mothers wanting to make the choice to stay home to care. This attack on our freedom is justified in the name of productivity. ‘Getting mothers into paid work will boost the economy and growth’. But it is based on the insulting myth that mothers nurturing babies and toddlers are doing nothing at home; they are ‘inactive economic units’.

“Given everything that science tells us about the critical importance of the earliest years of life, our babies and toddlers must now be a priority for Government as we recover from the pandemic.” We co-signed a letter from 1001 First Days Movement to the Home Secretary.

The University of Edinburgh and the Butterfly Baby Clinic are investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parent-infant wellbeing and early year’s professionals in the UK and piloting a new nature-based mindfulness meditation wellbeing tool as part of their study.