London Needs to Talk About Childcare: Too Much Demand and Too Little Money

I’ve been looking after a cat this week. Big news, I know, but bear with me. I love cats, always have done. They were a big part of my childhood and I’ve wanted one ever since. Sadly I have to wait until I’m an adult (I believe 54 is the official ‘adult’ age) until I can actually take care of one. Instead, I’ve opted to cat-sit for others, which I always imagined would be a joy. I was wrong.

At 4am last night, as the cat repeatedly poked his paw in my ear for attention then sat on my head when I pulled the duvet over it as protection, I had one resounding thought: how do parents do this?

This observation likely seems naive and laughable, especially for those that actually have children. I’m told cats and kids are a little different. But I could change every instance of ‘cats’ for ‘children’ in the first paragraph and have it still ring true for many people.

In the simplest terms, both involve looking after another living creature that requires care, love, food and clear up, regardless of your schedule. This week I’ve been woken throughout the night and I’m exhausted. My will to get up and work has been utterly zapped. I’m grouchy as hell. I just want to go back to bed, but there’s no escape there. Despite all this, I have to remind myself that this is a cat (the world’s neediest, I grant you). I can only imagine how I’d feel having a child.

And yet people do it every day: 2 million in the UK do it every day on their own. Millions more do it with a full time job in tow, and within that ever-more complex Venn diagram, there are those who do all this in London, where everything is more expensive – including childcare.

When Sadiq Khan took the Mayoral seat, he promised to tackle London childcare. The number of working parents is always rising: more and more going back to work as soon as they possibly can. Many do this out of choice, but most from necessity.

London’s level of childcare is below the English average, and it varies greatly from borough to borough. Inner London has more children per childcare placement than outer, with Tower Hamlets, Haringey, Newham and Barking & Dagenham showing more than 5.5 children vying for a single space. Newham is the worst borough, with 7.7 children per place. It’s difficult to tell if this is due to lack of space or higher demand, or both. Either way, parents just can’t get care for their child whilst they’re at work.

Of course the issues in London aren’t just about spaces, but prices. Childcare in London is 34% higher than the national average. London businesses have stated they’re seeing a rise in workers cutting down hours because of childcare costs.  Some employees are quitting work altogether because the support just isn’t there. Conversely, maternal employment rates in London are 10% below national average. Nearly half of these mums state childcare is a barrier for getting into work.

A lack of affordable childcare affects everyone, not just parents. It hampers issues from equality to economy, so we need to step up. Khan is working with single parent charity Gingerbread to tackle this problem. The Greater London Authority, who manage TfL and the Met, have been the first to make big changes. The GLA has introduced childcare deposit loans for its workers, giving parents money to cover up-front childcare costs.

Khan hopes this will be the first of many to make such a move. Fortunately, 2017 will see the new childcare initiative that doubles the hours of free childcare 3-4 year olds are entitled to, bringing it up from 15 hours to 30. It’s a great step towards making life a little easier for parents who already deal with sleepless nights and long hours. We have far more steps to make, however, before we solve the problem.

London must keep the dialogue up and hold Khan to his promises. In future, the only thing thrown at hassled parents should be food, not fees.

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