Childcare should not be a luxury
Childcare should not be a luxury: report
Last year, our post exploring how social prescribing responds to poverty spotlighted the challenges of accessing affordable childcare amid the cost‑of‑living crisis (How social prescribing link work is responding to the cost of living crisis — Ways to Wellness).
Since then two of Ways to Wellness’ team - Head of Implementation, Ang Broadbridge and SPACE Pilot Team Lead, Lauren Loader - have been involved in shaping a study diving deeper into the costs of childcare and access challenges for families across the North East.
Why childcare matters
The new report, Childcare should not be a luxury, from Health Equity North, Newcastle University and The University of Manchester, highlights why high quality, affordable and accessible childcare is vital in supporting families to thrive, and in enabling our economy to grow.
“Most parents and carers struggled to access childcare which met their needs, resulting in knock-on effects for both employment and wellbeing, as well as for childhood development and school readiness.” (Health Equity report, 2025)
The report features anonymised quotes from parents and carers as well as childcare providers on the effects of the current childcare situation. These findings align with Ways to Wellness’ learning from two of our family focused pilot projects.
Accessing maternal mental health support
Our Maternal Mental Health Services prototypes found that families struggle to find childcare which meets their needs, impacting heavily on parent’s mental health and wellbeing and employment. Many parents said that they relied on grandparents for support, which can put a strain on relationships, with the insecurity of informal support leaving parents in a precarious situation with work.
“I gave up working. We’re just now solely dependent on my husband’s wage… My mum was moaning all the time and I just thought, “Well, you’ve agreed to do it, so just do it.” … you’re completely reliant on them. If you argue with them, you can’t go too far because then, if they said, “Right, okay, I’m not doing it anymore,” you’d be stuck. You’d be screwed.” (Joanne, mum in the Health Equity Report)
Link workers found a lack of childcare exacerbates barriers to accessing maternal mental health support such as talking therapies. The team supported some solution-focussed system change here, exploring opportunities for creche access and talking to therapeutic practitioners about options for infants attending sessions with mothers.
SPACE Pilot: complex healthcare needs
Our SPACE Pilot, a collaboration with the Great North Children’s Hospital, places social prescribing link workers alongside clinicians treating children with chronic conditions.
SPACE Pilot team lead Lauren Loader contributed to shaping the Health Equity North study, sharing insights from the Pilot and making connections to families of children with medical needs.
The report highlights that childcare providers acknowledged crucial gaps in knowledge and skills in relation to supporting families with children with complex medical needs.
This echoes the experiences we hear on the SPACE Pilot, and the strain on families impacts parental mental health and wellbeing and has an impact on children’s health and wellbeing too.
Pre-school providers can need specific training from the NHS to accommodate complex medical needs. Places at specialist provision nurseries are in short supply and generally require a child to have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan in place by the age of three.
We have seen cases where parents have returned to the childcare setting every few hours to administer medication, and in informal care arrangements the same issues arise, often no one other than the parents can provide the level of medical care that is needed for their child.
Challenges in the North East
The North East is one of the hardest‑hit areas in England for child poverty. By 2023, the rising cost of childcare was being keenly felt by many across the country, with over a third of parents struggling to afford it. Recent national investment has made a difference for some, with 25 hours a week of childcare for a child under two now costing £66.98 in the North East. However, this rises to an average of £105 for the same care if the parents are not in work, or do not meet the income threshold. These parents are also often working irregular hours, which further raises the price – if suitable care is even available.
Ways to Wellness welcomes this report and its recommendations of four co-produced recommendations for change:
A more joined up approach is imperative to understand and support families with the interrelated issues of childcare and economic activity.
A specific sufficiency and impact assessment of childcare in the North East is necessary, as well as further academic research into issues unique to Northern England.
Greater emphasis, aside from enabling parents to participate in the workforce, should be placed on the value of formal childcare provision for school readiness, educational support and forging a thriving future population and workforce.
We need recognition that childcare is a key employment sector, particularly for women. Childcare provider pay should be increased in order to aid staff retention, improve availability and support quality childcare provision.
