The best start for every child

Plaid Cymru wants every child to have the best possible start in life, regardless of their circumstances. Current rates of child poverty are a stain on our society – we want to change that.

Childcare costs can be crippling for many households, leaving parents struggling to make ends meet and placing additional pressure on grandparents who may also be caring for elderly relatives themselves.

A Plaid Cymru government will implement the most ambitious and generous childcare offer in the history of devolution, helping parents to save thousands of pounds in the first few years of their son or daughter’s life.

Taking inspiration from the Scottish Government, we will also introduce a Child Payment Pilot – Cynnal, targeted at those families most in need as a tangible action to help tackle child poverty.

We will also commit to expanding free school meals to all secondary school pupils in households claiming Universal Credit, with no income limit, from September 2026.

Actions in the first 100 days:

Childcare Offer

  • Establish an expert steering group and a childcare taskforce in the Welsh civil service – to firmly establish phased delivery of the new offer, workforce planning, improving access and streamlining application as clear priorities
  • Work with local authorities and childcare providers on plans to urgently complete the rollout of 12.5 hours of funded childcare for all 2-year olds – begun under the Cooperation Agreement between Plaid Cymru and the outgoing Labour Welsh Government
  • Where this rollout is already complete or nearing completion, develop local plans to expand to 20 hours for all 2-year olds, and to extend 20 hours of care to 3- and 4-year olds not currently eligible for the existing Childcare Offer for Wales – accounting for workforce planning and development, and expanding the number and capacity of childcare settings
  • Bring forward plans to progressively expand funded care hours to children aged 9-months to 2-years

Tackling child poverty

Taking a new and targeted approach to reducing levels of child poverty, based on the best evidence of what works in poverty reduction, we will:

  • Immediately commence work to develop specific, ambitious and deliverable poverty reduction targets to inform a new, targeted plan to tackle child poverty
  • Commit to expanding free school meals to all secondary school pupils in households claiming Universal Credit, with no income limit, from September 2026
  • Prepare to implement the pilot for Cynnal – the Welsh Child Payment – commissioning an expert team to help lead on design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation