£1bn childcare boost will do little to increase number of parents working

A £1bn plan to double free childcare for three and four year olds will result in only a modest increase in the number of parents working, according to a new study.

From next year the entitlement will increase from 15 to 30 hours a week.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said it was "designed to break down the barriers to work, so that parents who want to return to work or work more hours can do so".

But researchers from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and Essex and Warwick universities found the change would only lead to "a modest number of mothers and no fathers" moving into paid work.

The only impact was among mothers with no younger children, with the proportion working increasing from 58% to 61.5%, equivalent to around 12,000 more women in work.

The limited effect was partly because the added free hours - while helping financially by about £410 a year - did not increase the total amount of childcare taken up by much.

Instead the free childcare on offer simply replaced paid-for care already being used or informal care being provided, such as by grandparents.

Providing a four-year-old with an additional 15-20 hours per week of free childcare during term time was equivalent to 600-800 hours per year.

But the amount of time they spent in childcare only increased by 76 hours, on average.

The study was based on looking at how parents' working hours changed when children reached primary school age - effectively going from 15 hours a week of state-funded childcare to 30-35 hours a week of state-funded education.

IFS senior research economist Sarah Cattan, said: "The Government expects to spend close to £1bn extending the number of free hours of childcare available to working parents of three and four-year-olds in England from 15 to 30 a week during term time.

"Our research suggests that this is only likely to lead to a modest number of mothers - and no more fathers - to move into paid work.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "Helping families with the cost of childcare is at the heart of this Government's agenda.

"We know that free childcare helps to remove the barriers to getting parents back into work - that's why we are investing a record £6bn per year by 2020."

The department said its 30-hour policy, already being trialled, was set to save working parents around £2,500 a year.