Access to affordable, high-quality childcare unlocks opportunities. It gives parents – especially mothers – the freedom to return to work or training, or to pick up more hours. And it can deliver life-changing benefits for every child – the opportunity to socialise and get the head-start they need to thrive in primary education.
But childcare costs in Wales are currently some of the highest in the UK. Families with young children are spending more on childcare than on housing, and many are simply unable to afford childcare at all.
A Plaid Cymru government will deliver a transformational and universal new childcare offer for children from the age of 9 months to 4 years – putting money back into families’ pockets, supporting parents back into work, and providing the best start for every child, regardless of their background.
By the time our new offer is fully rolled out, every child aged 9 months to 4 years will be entitled to 20 hours of free childcare every week, for 48 weeks a year. And for those children aged 3 and 4 whose parents are in work, education or training, we will honour the existing offer of 30 hours of funded childcare per week.
At full roll-out, this universal offer will be worth more than £30,000 in childcare costs in the first four years of a child’s life, making it the most generous government-funded childcare programme anywhere in the UK.