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Parents should be paid £8,000 a year to stay home with kids says think tank

Last modified on Monday 24 October 2022

Researchers will ask the Government to make changes to childcare grants and family benefits

A think tank wants the Government to re-assess how family benefits and childcare grants are awarded, so parents can afford to stay at home with their children when they're young.

In a report published this week, Civitas, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society , suggests that Child Benefit and childcare grants should be lumped together as a single 'family support benefit', which could give families with children under four up to £8k a year.

So how would it work?

'Frontloading' Child Benefit

At the moment, Child Benefit is paid every four weeks. Civitas's proposals would mean parents could 'frontload' Child Benefit if they wish and claim it all while their children are under five. This means you could claim around £5,101 a year, rather than £1,114.

They also want an increase in Child Benefit to pre-2010 levels.

Childcare subsidies to go to parents

Civitas would also like the approximately £2k of childcare subsidies that pay for the 15-to-30 hours of childcare that three and four years olds get, to be added to this sum. Currently, these payments are made directly to the childcare provision rather than to the parent.

One single benefit

The combined sum of approximately £8k could then be awarded as a single benefit. This could be used to either enable a parent to stay at home with the children, or be spent on childcare – including paying a relative to provide care, rather than just the present ' approved providers '.

In the report, 'Why can’t Mums choose?: Rethinking Child Benefit and childcare spending' , Civitas states that two-thirds of mothers with children aged four and under would rather work fewer hours and spend more time looking after their young children. They also said there are likely to be more than 2 million working mothers of pre-school children who would actively want to reduce the number of hours they work, if ‘they could afford it’.

The report says childcare policy is 'the wrong way round' and that getting mothers of young children into the workplace – and therefore paying tax – works for HM Treasury, rather than for the family.

The report's author, Frank Young, told the Telegraph:

'For over 30 years, governments have pushed parents into work and subsidised childcare. This isn't listening to mothers. Childcare policy is the wrong way around.'

What do you think about this? Would you like to receive your child benefit and childcare allowance as one lump sum? Or do you think the proposals don't go far enough to help families where both parents choose to work?

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