Tag: childcare

A Fairer, Greener Scotland?

First Minister lays out her Programme for Government 2021/22

Leading Scotland safely out of the pandemic, urgently confronting climate change, driving a green, fair economic recovery, and boosting opportunities for children and young people are among the core priorities in this year’s Programme for Government (PfG), published yesterday. Oh … and there’s a referendum in there, too …

The programme sets out plans for a record increase in frontline health spending, new legislation for a National Care Service, a system providing low-income families with free childcare before and after school and during holidays, and actions to drive forward Scotland’s national mission to end child poverty.

The programme also includes plans to help secure a just transition to net zero – creating opportunities for new, good and green jobs, making homes easier and greener to heat, and encouraging people to walk, wheel or cycle instead of driving.

Speaking in Parliament, the First Minister said: “This programme addresses the key challenges Scotland faces, and aims to shape a better future.

“It sets out how we will tackle the challenge of Covid, and rebuild from it. It outlines how we will address the deep-seated inequalities in our society. It shows how we will confront with urgency the climate emergency, in a way that captures maximum economic benefit. And it details the steps we will take to mitigate, as far as we can, the damaging consequences of Brexit while offering a better alternative.

“In the face of these challenges, our ambition must be bold. This programme sets out clear plans to lead Scotland out of the greatest health crisis in a century and transform our nation and the lives of those who live here.

“We will deliver a National Care Service; double the Scottish Child Payment; and invest in affordable, energy efficient homes and green travel. We will ensure that businesses have the support, and people have the skills, to succeed in the low carbon economy of the future. We will show global leadership in tackling the climate crisis. And we will offer people an informed choice on Scotland’s future.

“To that end, I can confirm that the Scottish Government will now restart work on the detailed prospectus that will guide the decision. The case for independence is a strong one and we will present it openly, frankly and with confidence and ambition.

“This programme addresses our current reality, but it also looks forward with confidence and ambition to a brighter future. It recognises that out of the many challenges we currently face, a better Scotland – as part of a better world – is waiting to be built.”

Building on the progress from the first 100 days of this government, with the co-operation agreement with the Scottish Green Party at its heart, the PfG sets the scene for the next five years.

Key commitments for over the course of this Parliament include:

  • increasing frontline health spending by 20%, leading to an increase of at least £2.5 billion by 2026-27
  • undertaking the biggest public service reform since the founding of the NHS – the creation of a National Care Service – with legislation brought forward by June next year
  • improving national wellbeing with increased direct mental health investment of at least 25%, with £120 million this year to support the recovery and transformation of services
  • investing £250 million to tackle the drugs deaths emergency over the next five years
  • expanding the Scottish Child Payment to under-16s by the end of next year and doubling it to £20 a week as soon as possible after that, with a £520 bridging payment given to every child in receipt of free school meals this year
  • investing a further £1 billion to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and providing councils with funding to recruit 3,500 additional teachers and 500 classroom assistants
  • providing free childcare to low income families before and after school and during holidays, and expanding free early learning and childcare to one and two year olds
  • investing £100 million over the next three years to support frontline services for preventing violence against women and girls
  • providing £1.8 billion to make homes easier and greener to heat, as part of a commitment to decarbonise 1 million homes by 2030
  • ensuring that at least 10% of the total transport budget goes on active travel by 2024-25, helping more people to cycle, wheel or walk instead of drive
  • delivering a revolution in children’s rights, including across the justice system
  • supporting a just transition to a low-carbon economy for people and businesses, including a £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray
  • investing an additional £500 million to support the new, good and green jobs of the future, including by helping people access training
  • delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and investing an additional £50 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping
  • taking forward the democratic mandate for a referendum on independence to be held within this Parliament and, if the Covid crisis is over, within the first half of this Parliament, while providing the people of Scotland with the information they need to make an informed choice on their future.

Programme for Government 2021-22

First Minister statement to the Scottish Parliament, 7 September 2021

Commenting on yesterday’s Programme for Government announcement, Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said: “Alarm bells should already be ringing in both the Scottish Government and Parliament that we are currently set to miss our child poverty targets, with no clear plan on how to achieve them. 

“The Programme for Government published today pushes that plan further down the road, both to the budget later in the year and next year’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. 

“Time is running out on the targets. Families on low incomes across Scotland are experiencing growing financial pressure and uncertainty .  They will hope the commitment to double the child payment “sooner rather than later” happens very soon and that our national mission to end child poverty gathers urgency and scale.”

The STUC welcomed the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, specifically highlighting the commitments from the First Minister to implement national bargaining in the care sector, additional funding for the health service, gender recognition reform and justice for Scotland’s miners wrongfully arrested in the 1980s.

STUC General Secretary, Roz Foyer said: “Reform of our care sector cannot come quick enough and the STUC will engage fully in this legislation, campaigning for a National Care Service based on sectoral collective bargaining and not for profit delivery.

“The commitment of the First Minister to National Bargaining is therefore very welcome. However, the £800 million additional funding announced over the course of the Parliament is less than a quarter of the expenditure which the Feeley Review said was necessary for the social care sector.

“Yet we still have concerns that the Programme of Government tries too hard be all things to all people. It is simply not credible to raise the levels of investment required to tackle climate change, reduce inequality and create jobs while at the same time boasting about the lowest business taxes in UK and freezing income tax rates for the duration of the Parliament.

“The same lack of ambition is reflected in today’s Scottish Government response to the report of the Just Transition Commission which leaves much to be desired on future job creation and ensuring the burden of climate change is not carried by workers and the less well off.

“Fighting discrimination and inequality is at the heart of trade unions, we know trans people are some of the most disadvantaged and discriminated people in Scotland and the gender recognition bill is therefore extremely welcome in enabling trans people to access their human rights.

“Finally, I welcome the proposed Miners’ Strike Pardon Bill. It has been all too clear for decades that the miners were the victims of a politically inspired political attack and that organs of the state, including the police, were used to repress their legitimate industrial action.

“This Bill will help provide some relief to the thousands of lives were wrecked by wrongful arrest and is a testament to years of campaigning by working class families who refused to give up.”

GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said: “The need to tackle the crisis in care is accepted, but the challenge is to end years of exploitation by giving care workers substantial pay increases. That’s how we’ll confront the understaffing crisis and transform the sector.

“It’s why GMB is campaigning for £15 an hour minimum for care workers. The prospect of staff remaining mired in wages of just under or over £10 an hour isn’t credible. 

“And there is a growing consensus supporting that view, including among Cabinet Secretaries as the Greens committed to a £15 minimum in their recent manifesto, so we need to make it happen. 

“If we are prepared to be bold and deliver proper value for workers across the social care sector then there is a huge opportunity to be grasped, everyone will benefit and Scotland will be fairer for it.” 

Joanne Smith, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Scotland, said: “Recovery and reform are very much needed as we move forward from the pandemic, and this year’s Programme for Government is the first step in this journey.  

“For children in Scotland to have the best start in life, it is vital that all families can access holistic support, where and when they need it, and so we are heartened by the Scottish Government’s announcement of a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.

“In line with the Promise’s recommendations we would like to see that national spending prioritises early, preventative support for families, therefore stripping out demand for crisis-led services.

“We are also greatly encouraged by the Scottish Government’s commitment to review and redesign the Children’s Hearing System. Through our work with very young children and families in Glasgow, we see the limitations of current justice processes in meeting the distinct needs of infants and their families.

“Given that around a third of children who come into care in Scotland are under the age of five, we need to ensure justice processes are better aligned with infants’ developmental timescales. We look forward to working alongside the Review team to ensure that the rights of infants are upheld throughout the process.”

Mary Glasgow Chief Executive of the charity Children 1st said:  “Today’s Programme for Government has rightly prioritised the right of children and their families to know they can access the help and support they need whenever they need it.  

“Children 1st have long called for a transformation in the support available to families, which must be based on learning from the – often difficult – experiences of children and their families when they have needed practical, emotional or financial help.

“The proposed £500m investment in a ‘Whole Family Wellbeing Fund’ is a hugely welcome step forward and we are committed to working alongside children and their families, and the Scottish Government, to turn this significant investment into practical action.” 

Tracy Black, CBI Scotland Director, said: “With Glasgow hosting COP26 later this year, the Scottish Government is right to focus on its plans for a net zero economy. Yet given the need to cement Scotland’s economic recovery post-pandemic, businesses will feel there ought to have been a greater focus on boosting growth. While there were encouraging mentions of greater access to finance, the devil will be in the detail.

“Firms are already decarbonising their operations, and, by working alongside government, can help urgently transform net zero ambitions into action. Reforming the planning and business rates systems – enabling much needed in investment in low carbon infrastructure – would help achieve ambitious climate targets.  

“The First Minister is also right to highlight that COVID hasn’t gone away. Scottish firms have worked tirelessly throughout the crisis to keep staff and customers safe. Businesses are not calling for a rushed return to the workplace, though employers will rightly be speaking with their employees about a gradual return in line with the latest guidance.

“As the economy reopens, skills shortages remain a key concern, so employers will be frustrated not to hear more about plans for upskilling and retraining.

“Business investment is absolutely vital to Scotland’s economic recovery, and the government should do everything in its power to attract – not repel – investment and the very best talent. Ultimately, by working more closely with business to create sustainable economic growth, ministers will be able to achieve their goals of improving people’s living standards and public services.”

Work begins on a Minimum Income Guarantee

Scotland is taking its first steps on the road to establishing a Scottish Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison will today co-chair the first meeting of a new steering group to drive forward the ambitious new policy with the aim of reducing poverty, inequality and insecurity.

Ms Robison has also launched a consultation to gather views on how establishing a Minimum Income Guarantee – which would provide an assurance that everyone would have enough money to live a dignified, healthy and financially secure life – could be designed and delivered in Scotland.

The announcement meets another commitment for the first 100 days of this government, which was elected on 6 May.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Ms Robison said: “We are committed to progressing the delivery of a Minimum Income Guarantee, which could be revolutionary in our fight against poverty. It is a clear demonstration of our ambition and aspiration for Scotland.

“The policy is innovative, bold and radical. It reflects our clear desire to do everything with our limited powers to deliver the change needed, using every lever at our disposal.

“Eradicating child poverty and building a fairer, more equal country must be a national mission, not just for the government, but our parliament and broader society.

“We recognise this is a cross-government responsibility and we are focused on working together to push forward poverty reduction in Scotland.

“We must look at ways of maximising household incomes from work and social security, as well as reducing costs on essentials including services such as childcare.

“Introducing a Minimum Income Guarantee will not be easy and it will not happen overnight, but there is a willingness to deliver on our ambition.”

The steering group will be co-chaired by Russell Gunson, Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research in Scotland, which published a report earlier this year on how a future Minimum Income Guarantee could look.

Mr Gunson said: “A Minimum Income Guarantee could transform the lives of people across Scotland, setting an income floor in Scotland beneath which no one would fall.

“To build a fairer and stronger Scotland following Covid-19 we will need to think big ideas in Scotland and think just as big on how to implement them.

“The MIG Steering Group is a great step, bringing cross-party representatives and experts from across Scotland together to shape a Minimum Income Guarantee and make progress on delivering it.

“I’m delighted to be co-chair and look forward to working hard together to see tangible progress towards delivering a Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland over the coming years.”

Access the consultation dialogue

Early Learning and Childcare: Public Health ‘Blether’

Thursday 19th August from 4 – 4.45pm

The Scottish Government are hosting a Public Health ‘Blether’, facilitated by Education Scotland, aimed at staff working in the Early Learning and Childcare sector to support the understanding of new public health guidelines for the sector.

During the session you will have an opportunity to hear from leading public health professionals, who will aim to provide reassurance and an opportunity for those participating to ask questions and share thoughts.

This event will be held on Microsoft Teams and as there are a limited number of spaces. If you are unable to attend the live event, a recording will be made available for you to watch.

When registering, there is an option to pose a question to the Public Health panel, these questions will then be collated and arranged by theme. A representative will present these questions on the audience’s behalf or we may ask you to unmute your mic and ask your question directly.

This is your chance to hear about updated guidance, connect with colleagues and ask public health officials questions

https://bit.ly/3lTk4pr

‘Transformational’: Increasing free early learning and childcare

Up to 130,000 children will be able to benefit from 1,140 hours of free early learning and childcare (ELC) each year from this month.

Available to all three and four-year-olds, as well as two-years-olds who need it most, the flagship commitment will save families childcare costs of around £4,900 per child each year.

Many children in funded ELC already access 1,140 hours. Legislation came into effect on 1 August to make the expanded offer available across Scotland.

The expansion from 600 to 1,140 hours of funded ELC was made possible by a close working partnership between the Scottish Government, local authorities and ELC providers across Scotland, underpinned by a landmark multi-year funding agreement.

Delivery of the 1,140 hours offer, which will bring Scottish Government funding for ELC in 2021-22 to over £1 billion, marks another commitment for the first 100 days of this Government.

The Scottish Government has also provided local authorities with £476 million of capital over the last four years, which has enabled them to refurbish, re-purpose and extend hundreds of existing nursery settings, as well as providing over 150 new facilities across Scotland.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement during a visit to Fallin Nursery, Stirling, where she met staff and children.

The First Minister said: “All children deserve the best start in life. Providing access to free, high-quality early learning and childcare enriches children’s early years and provides them with skills and confidence for starting school and beyond. It also supports parents’ ability to work, train or study.

“I am delighted to announce that every local authority in Scotland has assured us they are ready to deliver the 1,140 hours offer by the start of the new term – a truly transformational offer that will benefit children and families all over the country.

“Getting to this point, especially given the challenges of the pandemic, has taken a mammoth effort and I’d like to thank local authorities and private and voluntary sector providers for helping to make it happen.”

COSLA Children and Young People’s Spokesperson Councillor Stephen McCabe said: “This announcement is good news for families across Scotland with children able to benefit from almost double the amount of funded childcare later this month.

“These additional hours will be transformative for families, ensuring children have more time to play and learn while parents and carers will have more opportunities to work, study or volunteer.

“The delivery of the 1,140 hours expansion of early learning and childcare is the result of hard work by councils and our partners, who have made huge efforts to deliver against the extremely challenging and ever-changing nature of the pandemic.” 

Early Years Scotland Chief Executive Jane Brumpton said: “Children and families will now have access to more funded hours of early learning and childcare than ever before.

“We know that investing in the earliest years of a child’s life is crucial to a child’s positive development, and has long-lasting impacts on outcomes in health, education, and positive life chances.

“Early Years Scotland very much welcomes this duty coming into force, and will work closely with Scottish Government and our members to support the rollout of this important policy.”

Funded early learning and childcare (ELC) is available to all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds.

Nutritional support for young children in Scotland

Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme launched

A scheme to provide children in eligible pre-school settings with milk and a portion of fruit or vegetables launched yesterday (1 August). The Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme replaces the UK Nursery Milk Scheme, making more healthy produce available for more children.

All pre-schoolers who spend two hours or more a day in eligible childcare settings registered with the scheme will be entitled to a serving of fresh milk.

Unlike the UK scheme, a piece of fruit or portion of vegetables will also be offered and children who cannot drink cow’s milk for medical, ethical or religious reasons will be offered a specified non-dairy alternative.

More than 3,000 childcare settings and over 116,000 children are already signed up to the new scheme and it is anticipated that more will register to benefit in year one. The Scottish Government is expected to provide around £9 million to £12 million funding to local authorities, depending on uptake, to administer the scheme in the first year.

Eligible settings who register will receive up-front payments via their local authority.

Children’s Minister Clare Haughey said: “We know that diet impacts on children’s health and their ability to learn. This scheme not only provides eligible pre-school children in Scotland with access to excellent sources of nutrition but we hope it will set up healthy eating habits for life.

“With this expanded and improved offer, the Scottish Government has gone further than the UK scheme. Working in partnership with COSLA and other key partners, we are investing in children’s outcomes, providing increased money up-front, and offering a wider range of healthy produce while supporting our vital Scottish food and drink sector.”

COSLA Children and Young People Spokesperson Councillor Stephen McCabe said: “The provision of milk and healthy snacks to children is an important part of ensuring that they can get the best from their learning and contributes to their overall health and wellbeing.

“The scheme will provide for children at a crucial stage in their development and we have worked in partnership to ensure that as many children as possible benefit.”

Tacking Poverty and Building A Fairer Country

Speech by the Social Justice Secretary, Shona Robison, opening yesterday’s Tackling Poverty and Building A Fairer Country debate

Presiding Officer, I am pleased to open this debate on the urgent need for us to tackle poverty and build a fairer, more equal country.

We must seize the opportunity, build upon our strong efforts to date, and use every lever at our disposal to bring about the change needed to tackle this problem.

We already invest around £2 billion each year in support for people on low incomes, including over £672 million targeted at children. We have a strong focus on those at greatest disadvantage, including disabled people. And we are supporting innovative action with our £50 million Tackling Child Poverty Fund.

But we must do more. That is why we have committed a wide range of ambitious action to be delivered in the first 100 days of this Parliament – maintaining the tremendous pace taken of change throughout the COVID pandemic.

This is a priority across all Ministerial portfolios. No one action will bring about the change needed, it needs all parts of government and broader society to work together and to impact the drivers of poverty reduction – increasing household incomes from work, reducing costs on essentials and maximising incomes from social security.

The eradication of poverty and building a fairer more equal country must be a national mission for government, for our parliament and for our society. We must try, where possible, to unite on this issue and work together to create a fairer Scotland.

Backed by over £1 billion of additional funding, our response to the pandemic shows that we can make change happen at the pace and scale required to support people and improve their lives. And we wand to build on this can do approach.

We delivered free school meal support during all school holidays and periods of remote learning for children from low income families – helping to tackle food insecurity during the pandemic. We will continue this whilst expanding Free School Meal support to all primary pupils, which will start within the first 100 days of this Parliament.

Also, in our first 100 days we will complete the roll-out of 1,140 hours of funded Early Learning and Childcare and have set out the next stage of our ambition to expand childcare further and develop a wraparound childcare system, providing care before and after school, all year round. This will make an important contribution to children’s development and will unlock the potential of parents in the labour market.

We will also deliver our £20 million summer programme for pupils, helping children socialise, play and reconnect – an essential investment to support the wellbeing of all children and young people [backed by £7.5 million from our Tackling Child Poverty Fund].

Through two Pandemic Support Payments of £100 to low income families with children we put money directly into the pockets of those who needed it most.

Building upon this approach, we will effectively pay the Scottish Child Payment through introducing bridging payments of £520 for families not yet eligible for the Payment, with £100 to be paid to families this summer. We will also provide £130 to every household who received Council Tax Reduction in April, reaching around 500,000 households.

I am pleased I can also make two announcements.

First, building on the practical support we offered during the pandemic, we will be providing the British Red Cross with a further £250,000 to continue their cash-first crisis support to those most at risk of destitution. This includes help to those impacted by the UK Government’s hostile policies that exclude them from most mainstream supports including the Scottish Welfare Fund.

And secondly, in recognition of the importance of listening to families affected by poverty, we will trial Family Wellbeing Budgets to put families firmly in control of the support they need. This new support will be delivered in partnership with the Hunter Foundation and will help to improve people’s wellbeing and capabilities.

Presiding offer, where we have the powers we are making a difference to people’s lives.

Nowhere is this more evident than in our approach to housing. Scotland has led the way in the across the UK with almost 100,000 affordable homes delivered since 2007, over 68,000 of which were for social rent. This is making a significant difference to people right across the country, and particularly for families with children.

We want to deliver a further 100,000 affordable homes by 2032. It is our aim that at least 70% of those homes will be for social rent, helping to tackle child poverty and homelessness.

But to tackle poverty effectively we must deliver a fair work future for Scotland, and we are working hard to do just that just now – but we are constrained by the powers available to us.

We cannot accept a future where two thirds of children living in poverty come from working households and where people are forced to rely on benefits to top-up their earnings.

We have to transform workplaces to tackle poverty and long-standing labour market inequalities, such as the disability employment gap and the barriers to employment faced by people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

With full powers over employment we could, as a minimum, ensure that all employees in Scotland receive the Real Living Wage, ensuring that their wages represent the true cost of living.

We could outlaw unfair fire and hire tactics, prohibiting employers from dismissing employees and subsequently re-employing them on diminished terms and conditions, and we could ban inappropriate and exploitative use of zero hour contracts, giving people the certainty about their working hours – ensuring they can plan their lives and incomes.

That’s why I have asked all party leaders to support our request to the UK Government for the full devolution employment powers to this parliament. So we can tackle poverty with the powers we need to make the change.

Social security is also an important tool to tackle poverty, and again those powers don’t lie in our hands. 85% of spending remains at Westminster alongside income replacement benefits such as Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.

If we didn’t already need it, the pandemic further evidenced that the UK welfare system is not fit for purpose and risks undermining hard won progress. This is the system people in Scotland have to rely on and we shouldn’t have to mitigate against polices we disagree with like the £80 million we spent last year on Discretionary Housing Payments to mitigate the bedroom tax in full and support people with housing – we could be investing in other anti-poverty measures. If we had the powers here we would be able to do that. 

The removal of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit is a callous act which will push 60,000 families across Scotland, including 20,000 children, into poverty and will result in families unable to work receiving, on average, £1,600 less per year than they would have done a decade ago – a decade ago – in 2011.

That’s a massive threat to the progress we could make here. We could be delivering the doubling of the Scottish child payment with one hand, only to see it removed by Westminster welfare policies  with the other. Surely there is no-one across this chamber that can think that isin any way a good idea or a fair system?

We need to make significant investment into the pockets of those who need it most need. The Scottish child payment does that. That’s why it’s so important.

We have urged the UK Government to make the changes needed and to deliver a social security system which is fit purpose – scrapping harmful policies such as the two child cap, the rape clause, the benefit cap and 5 week wait under Universal Credit. Unfortunately, our calls, alongside many charities, organisations, and even the UN Poverty Rapporteur have been ignored. It’s time for full powers to come here so we can make the difference.

We have already shown we can make a difference – a public service based on human rights with respect and dignity at its heart and viewed as an investment in the people of Scotland.  Principles we enshrined in law.

Through our powers, we are tackling child poverty head on, with the Scottish Child Payment, which currently pays £40 every four weeks for every eligible child under 6. We are committed to doubling this to £80, making even greater impact.

Alongside our Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods we are providing over £5,300 of direct financial support for families by the time their first child turns six and further for subsequent children as we don’t put a cap on children. These payments are making a real difference to low income families, helping them to access the essentials they need.

That support is unmatched anywhere else in the UK.

Presiding officer, our next steps will build on the strong foundation we have set, and will be taken forward at pace these changes. No one who sits in this parliament, whatever their political beliefs, can underestimate the scale of the challenge that we face.

I want to take that forward and I’m pleased to work with anyone across this chamber who wants to join me in doing that.

Women in Scotland are doing £680 million worth of unpaid labour every week

  • New research reveals how much unpaid work women in the city are doing, and what it would be worth on the labour market 
  • Women aged 16 and over in Scotland carry out £35 billion worth of work every year 
  • Average woman does work equivalent to job paying £15k per year 

A new study has revealed how much unpaid work the average woman does, and the amount she would be paid for it on the job market. It estimates that the combined total for women across Scotland totals billions of pounds each year. 

The research, by IVA Advice, analysed the unpaid household tasks a British woman does on average each week, such as childcare, cooking, laundry and cleaning, and the average salary for jobs doing the equivalent, such as a cleaner, carer or kitchen assistant. 

It revealed that women spend more than 30 hours per week doing unpaid labour and could expect to be paid around £15,000 a year for the work.  

An estimated 2.35 million women over the age of 16 live in Scotland, which means the combined total of unpaid work by women across the country equates to £680 million each week, £2.94 billion each month, and £35.3 billion each year. 

Approximately 21.5 million women over the age of 16 live in the UK, so the unpaid work by women across Great Britain and Northern Ireland adds up to a staggering £891 million each day, £27 billion each month, and £324 billion each year. 

In addition, 71.8% of those women also have paid jobs, meaning 15.49 million women are effectively working two jobs, while only being paid for one. 

If the work were to be paid, government coffers would swell to the tune of an extra £10.9 billion per year in tax, and £14.3 billion in annual National Insurance contributions. 

On average the most time-consuming unpaid labour for women in the UK is cooking, which takes up more than seven hours each week, followed by nearly six hours of providing transport, and more than four hours each of childcare and housework. 

Unpaid household tasks  Equivalent job  Average yearly salary  Average monthly salary  Average hourly rate  Average hours women spend on task per week Unpaid salary per week Unpaid salary per month Unpaid salary per year 
Childcare  Nursery assistant  £19,000 £1,583.33 £9.74 4.40 £45.49 £197.11 £2,365.26 
Transport Taxi driver  £19,720 £1,643.33 £10.11 5.51 £59.14 £256.29 £3,075.46 
Cooking  Kitchen assistant  £16,622 £1,385.17 £8.52 7.17 £62.03 £268.78 £3,225.33 
Shopping Supermarket delivery driver £15,317 £1,276.42 £7.85 4.33 £35.72 £154.78 £1,857.31 
Laundry  Laundry attendant  £17,355 £1,446.25 £8.90 2.24 £21.36 £92.56 £1,110.72 
Housework (cleaning and tidying)  Cleaner  £18,579 £1,548.25 £9.53 3.40 £44.41 £192.44 £2,309.31 
Gardening  Professional gardener  £20,536 £1,711.33 £10.53 1.13 £12.85 £55.67 £668.02 
Adult care (for elderly and disabled)  Carer £20,759 £1,729.92 £10.65 0.19 £3.41 £14.77 £177.22 
Home repairs  Labourer  £20,536 £1,711.33 £10.53 0.29 £4.84 £20.99 £251.88 
Totals 31.25 £289.24 £1,253.38 £15,040.51 

IVA Advice provides free, qualified advice to help people solve their debt problems for good. Its team of experienced experts help ensure that anyone who has problems with debt is able to reclaim financial control. 

Bubbles: New support is ‘great news for stressed parents’

Campaigner Rebecca Bell is welcoming the news that the First Minister has told parliament that parents with a baby under the age of one can have assistance with childcare, using a new exemption for indoor visiting.

Rebecca Bell, the mental health spokesperson for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, had launched a petition to allow for ‘bubbles’ for those with newborns, like they have in place in England and Wales.

She was prompted to do so after speaking to her friends with children in Leith, and also during phone canvassing in recent months, she and other volunteers kept hearing how much parents were struggling.

Speaking after the announcement at Parliament, Rebecca said: “We’ve been campaigning for this since last year, so I’m delighted to hear that finally parents with a baby can get some much needed support in their homes.

“This is so vitally important for the mental health and wellbeing of new families, but also for the development of these babies to interact with other people. Most of these children were born during lockdown.

“However, I will continue to stay in touch with those I’ve spoken to, to see if this restriction edit goes far enough. My petition called for a full baby bubble – like families in England have enjoyed since the start of December, and since last month in Wales.

“What the Scottish Government are introducing is not quite the same. As we ease restrictions there may still be a case for allowing bubbles, such as the one we (rightly) offer here to single parents. I believe a bubble is a more stable arrangement for planning childcare in the next few months, so I will be monitoring the success of this policy closely.

“Now we have eclipsed a year into this pandemic, it’s easy to see why fatigue has set in and mental health has been put under strain. Anyone with a newborn is sleep deprived, and around 1 in 10 new mothers experience post-natal depression, and this condition can also affects fathers too, of course.

“Any parent knows that you need lots of energy for it, and just having someone able to come into your house to hold your baby so you can eat some food, or shower can make a huge difference to your wellbeing. That’s why so many I’ve spoken to are really struggling to juggle parenthood and working from home.

“I’m so glad we finally got some movement from the Government on this, I just wish they’d done so sooner.”

Childcare expansion from August next year

All eligible children will benefit from at least 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) from August 2021, the Children’s Minister has announced.

The expansion of funded ELC, originally intended for August 2020, was paused in April to give local authorities the flexibility to focus on responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A new date has now been agreed with local authority umbrella group COSLA.

Children’s Minister Maree Todd said: “I’m very pleased that we now have a new date for the full implementation of expanded ELC, and that children will benefit from more high quality funded childcare.

“We took the difficult decision in August to pause the statutory roll-out to allow local authorities to focus on responding to the pandemic and providing critical childcare, which was crucial to supporting key workers.

“The pandemic has had an obvious impact on construction and recruitment plans across the country, however local authorities have worked exceptionally hard and continued to make good progress in very challenging circumstances, and the majority of children receiving funded ELC are already receiving 1,140 hours.

“We were always clear that the suspension of the statutory duty on local authorities to provide 1,140 hours was a pause, not a stop. We will continue to work with partners over the coming months to deliver this transformational policy that will benefit families across the country.”

COSLA’s Children and Young People’s Spokesperson Councillor Stephen McCabe said: “Local government remains committed to increasing the number of funded early learning and childcare hours, recognising the transformational effect for Scotland’s families, ensuring that children have access to the highest quality learning and care, and providing significant savings to parents and carers.

“Despite the massive challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on infrastructure projects and our recruitment programmes, all councils are delivering more that the current 600 hours entitlement to some or all families.

“We are pleased that we have jointly agreed a new date of August 2021 for the reinstatement of the statutory duty for 1140 hours. We look forward to working with all our partners, including the Scottish Government, to ensure Scotland’s children and families can benefit from almost doubling funded hours of ELC and to support the recovery from the impact of coronavirus on our communities.”

Latest data from the Improvement Service, compiled in August, shows that more than 56,000 children (61% of those receiving funded ELC) are already receiving 1,140 hours, despite the statutory expansion being paused in April to give local authorities the flexibility to focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Save up to £2,000 with Tax-Free Childcare in Scotland

As schools return in Scotland, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding working parents they could save up to £2,000 per child per year to pay towards after-school clubs and other childcare services.

Around 110,000 families in Scotland are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare, which can cut thousands of pounds off childcare bills.

All families have to do is pay into their Tax-Free Childcare account and for every £8 that they deposit, the UK Government immediately makes a top-up payment of an additional £2.

The scheme is open to working parents, including the self-employed, who earn between the minimum wage and £100,000 per year and have children aged 0-11 years old. Families with a disabled child, aged 0-17 years old, can receive up to £4,000 in government support each year.

Families in Scotland can choose from childcare providers that have signed up to Tax-Free Childcare, including nannies, nurseries, childminders or after-school clubs.

HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, Angela MacDonald, said: “As more parents across the country return to work and kids head back to school following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, there has never been a better time to sign up to Tax-Free Childcare.

“It takes just minutes to set up an account on our Childcare Choices website and soon you could be receiving up to £2,000 per child towards the cost of childcare each year.”

UK Government Minister for Scotland, Iain Stewart, said: “Tens of thousands of families in Scotland are eligible to access savings towards after-school clubs and other childcare services thanks to the UK Government’s Tax-Free Childcare scheme.

“As more parents return to work and children to Scotland’s schools following the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, I urge people to make full use of the support. The scheme is part of a significant package of measures that the UK Government has in place to help families in Scotland.”

You can find out more and apply through the Childcare Choices website. It includes a Childcare Calculator that compares all the government’s childcare offers to check what works best for individual families.

Tax-Free Childcare is just one example of the support available to families in Scotland from the UK Government. More information on other schemes such as Help To Save and Marriage Allowance can be found on the Delivering for Scotland website.

How Tax-Free Childcare works:

  • Working parents can apply, through the childcare service, to open an online childcare account. The scheme is available for children under the age of 12, or under the age of 17 for children with disabilities.
  • If you or your partner have an ‘adjusted net income’ over £100,000 in the current tax year, you will not be eligible. This includes any bonuses you expect to get.
  • For every £8 that families pay in, the UK Government will make a top-up payment of an additional £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year (or £4,000 for disabled children). This top-up is added instantly and parents can then send payments directly to their childcare providers. The maximum government top-up is £500 per quarter for each child, or £1,000 if the child is disabled.
  • All registered childcare providers – whether nannies, nurseries, childminders or after-school clubs – can sign up online to receive parents’ payments through Tax-Free Childcare.
  • Parents need to sign back in every three months and confirm their details are up-to-date, to keep getting government top-ups.
  • Families who were already signed up to Tax-Free Childcare but have fallen below the minimum income requirement due to COVID-19 will continue to receive financial support until 31 October. Critical workers who may exceed the income threshold for the 2020-21 tax year due to working more to tackle the pandemic, will continue to receive support this tax year. More information.
  • You can check your eligibility for Tax-Free Childcare in relation to COVID-19.