Childcare support and early education

Worldwide, 350 million children below primary school age lack access to high quality childcare.1 This is concerning because access to high quality early childcare and education is a critical social determinant of health that benefits individuals, families, businesses, and economies.2 In England, the current focus is on expanding free childcare support, as announced in the 2023 budget.3 Currently, everyone in England is offered 15 hours of free childcare a week for children aged 3-4 years, and working parents receive 30 hours of free childcare for the same age group.3 The aim is to extend free childcare to cover children aged 9 months and above by 2025, but only for working parents.3Although this policy has been well received by working parents, some argue that expanding free childcare support could further widen health inequalities, particularly among children from single parent families, in low income households, or with disabled parents.45 These recent policy…
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