Clegg: Labour failing to tackle childcare inequalities

Nick Clegg used a speech to the 4Children conference today to attack Labour’s record on childcare and early years education. He particularly emphasised the impact of these failings on social mobility, a regular concern of his:

The sad truth is that, in Britain today, opportunity is in short supply for too many children.

A child’s chances in life are more determined by his parents’ income than anywhere else in the developed world. Social mobility is grinding to a halt. Inequality is rising…

It is absolutely vital that our approach is not prescriptive. Because every family is different.
And it is clear that when services are designed to make life easy for government, or local councils, instead of families, far too many people fall through the gaps.

The services we offer must be built for real people who struggle with real, everyday challenges like balancing work and home life, health problems, or relationship difficulties.

Because there is no one-size-fits-all life.

So support – from maternity pay through to childcare subsidies – must be structured to give as much flexibility as possible to families.

By allowing families to get the support they want, instead of requiring them to fit in with someone else’s system, we will be able to reach out to the most disadvantaged families, who just don’t get the support they need at the moment. And so help the children who need help the most.

It starts at birth. I want to extend maternity, and paternity leave, and explore ways to make it interchangeable between parents.

It’s totally out of step with modern parenting to say that fathers only want or need two weeks with newborn children. That`s not what I wanted when my children were born. In fact, as they turned from babies into toddlers I wanted to spend more, not less, time with them.

And every mother should feel able to stay at home with her baby for the first nine months, at least.

Too many mothers find it impossible to live on statutory maternity pay – and go back to work reluctantly just to make ends meet.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to boosting maternity pay with a “Maternity Income Guarantee”, equivalent to the full time minimum wage.

We’re looking at how long we can afford to sustain that level of support – but it will be for a minimum of nine months.

The laudable ambition to increase the number of people working should not blind us to the fact that very small children are usually best cared for by a parent at home.

And that many parents – mums and dads – actively want to take time out from work to care for their children, and they shouldn’t be punished for it.

There is more to life than work: family is what motivates most people and we should celebrate that, not undermine it.

So flexible working should be extended to all parents, with strong tribunals to make it work.

And we must look to Europe for ideas about how can we make all kinds of family leave more flexible…

Education has got to be right at the heart of any attempt to make Britain a fairer place, where people have opportunities to succeed no matter what their background.

And the early years are the foundation stone for a good education, which is the foundation stone for a good society.

By targeting money and support at the children who need it most.

By making sure staff are well-trained and experienced.

And by helping families of all backgrounds to strengthen their language skills.

Opportunity for all children. Flexibility for all families. The right support for teachers and schools. And a common language for all. These are the simple building blocks to give our children, all our children, an equal head start in life.