London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jun 02, 2025

The state will pay anyone to look after your children — except you

The state will pay anyone to look after your children — except you

Am I a better or worse mother because I work? That is a question never far from any working mother’s mind.

Now that my children are both at school (they are four and 10) I would say it’s better that I’m working. I have always wanted and needed to work. But if I could have looked after my children full-time before they started school, would that have been a wonderful thing for them? I think it would.

Which is why I’ve always felt slightly adrift from the metropolitan weltanschauung that wrap-around nursery childcare should be a right for parents as soon as they want to go to work.

Successive governments over the past 30 years have been hysterical and unremitting in their drive to get women back into the workplace after having children, separating mothers from their children at an ever-younger age for ever-increasing hours, the gist being that they will offer women all sorts of benefits and subsidies for childcare, as long as they pay someone else to do it.

This is clearly attractive to the Treasury — these women, and the people employed to look after their children, all pay tax. But ONS figures show that 77 per cent of mothers who are staying at home to look after children don’t want to find paid work, which should make us question the constant drive to get mothers into the workplace.

Frank Young’s excellent report for Civitas argues that we have been getting childcare policy the wrong way round in this country for some time. His report calls on ministers to allow parents to front-load their child benefit entitlement — enabling parents to squeeze 18 years of payments into three or four. Adding in other tax incentives and subsidies and parents could receive £8,000 a year and spend it how they choose.

And this is not just about the parents.

No political party is prepared to acknowledge it but there is a lot of research that shows that very young children benefit from secure attachment to a primary care giver and there are potential harms associated with long-term institutional care.

While there is little evidence that this benefits children’s development, there is substantial evidence that children in nurseries, particularly in poor-quality ones, have persistently higher levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) than children at home. A recent assessment of scientific evidence found that long periods spent in a formal childcare setting before the age of three provides few cognitive advantages for most children and makes children “more likely to misbehave and be angry once they reach school.”

The motherhood and career conundrum isn’t easy for women. The UK has the second most expensive childcare in the OECD, and it’s rising.

In many cases, during those early years, it doesn’t pay to work, while mothers who don’t, pay a heavy price in terms of career progression, salary and pension.

There are no easy choices, but the current system doesn’t seem to be working for anyone.

Crowning glory
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana in The Crown


The fifth series of the Crown starts tomorrow night and I for one could not be more excited. It has also been so enjoyable to witness all the luvvies clutching their pearls about the show as it melds fact and fiction, with Judi Dench calling it ‘cruelly unjust’ and ‘crude sensationalism’. I don’t remember any of them complaining when a similar dose of artistic licence was given to the real-life Fred West victims in the gripping dramas Responsible Adult or the The Moorside about Shannon Matthews.

Adding to the difficult ethical gymnastics in condemning the Crown is the fact that Mike Tindall is currently (why, and who signed that off?) parading himself on I’m a Celebrity and Harry is of course on the Netflix payroll.

From Princess Margaret’s acerbic one-liners and self-destructive carousing to the Queen’s hilarious asides and Prince Philip’s laconic wit, the show has actually made me more of a fan of the royals.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
×