The evidence is clear – investing in good quality childcare and early years education more than pays for itself in the long run. It gives our children a head start, and parents greater freedom to return to work, increase their hours or undertake education or training. The benefits are felt in both the short and the long term.
With care bills in Wales currently higher than anywhere else in the UK, thousands of parents are working just to cover the growing cost of their childcare, and many are simply unable to afford it altogether.
On top of this, the process of applying for existing childcare schemes is often confusing and overly complex for families to navigate.
A Plaid Cymru government will deliver a transformative and universal new childcare offer for children from the age of 9 months to 4 years.
Our new offer will:
- Build progressively to 20 hours a week for all children aged 9 months to 4 years, for 48 weeks a year, while honouring the existing 30-hour offer for those children aged 3 and 4 whose parents are in work, education or training.
- Introduce a single, streamlined application system so families can easily access it.
- Look at ways to improve access to childcare for parents who work irregular hours and live in rural areas, including through expanding delivery via childminders.
- Support and expand childcare through the medium of Welsh, strengthening the early years pathway into Welsh-medium education.
Across the carefully phased rollout of this new offer, we will work closely with childcare providers to build capacity across the sector and grow the workforce in order to absorb the expansion.
To ensure both decent pay for workers and financial sustainability for businesses in the sector, we will set fair hourly entitlement funding rates and review them regularly. We will also draw on international best practice as we look to make sure that childcare is a valued career – with good opportunities for career progression and professional advancement.
We will work with the sector to ensure childcare provision beyond the early years – including after-school and holiday provision – continues to develop to meet the needs of families across Wales.