Childcare should be treated as infrastructure – it’s as essential to the functioning of society as schools, GPs and public transport. It’s also vital for gender equality, freeing up mothers – who are much more likely to be primary carers – to pursue careers and gain economic independence. Yet the childcare system in the UK is utterly broken.


Two-thirds of parents are now spending more on childcare than on their mortgage or rent, with part-time nursery costs for children under the age of two rising 59% since 2010. Women are leaving work because they can’t afford the rising prices, and early years professionals – again, typically women – are quitting the industry because they are underpaid and undervalued.


To mark the publication of Essays on Equality: the politics of childcare, our expert panel discussed how we can fix the UK’s childcare system and ensure progress on gender equality is not reversed.


Panel:


- Bridget Phillipson MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education


- Rachel de Souza DBE, Children's Commissioner for England


- Joeli Brearley, Author and Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed


- Elliott Rae, Founder of Music Football Fatherhood


- Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics and Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College London (chair)