"We wanted to join the dots between the multiple crises of childcare that have been exacerbated by the pandemic: early years workers unable to access sick pay or furloughed on starvation wages, thousands of childminders excluded from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, low-paid key and NHS workers forced to rely on at-risk grandparents, largely women left juggling or reducing their hours, and parents on Universal Credit unable to access childcare support because the system makes you pay the fees upfront. [...]
A new deal which values the important work of child-caring and provides inclusive universal early years education is long overdue. Post-pandemic, if not before, it is ministers who must start working many jobs at once. We demand that they stop the indirect discrimination against women and prioritise the right of all children to an education – and to thrive."
– Nirupama Naidu and Louise O'Hare of SEND Crisis Tower Hamlets discuss the aims of the Post Pandemic Childcare coalition in an article for Tribune at: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/02/parents-and-workers-demand-a-new-deal-for-childcare
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