13/02/2026
Repost - devoting 8 years to a profession I love.
The reality of providers feeling the pressure, behind the happy smiles that greet families every morning.
😣😣😣CHILDCARE IN CRISIS😣😣😣
For the past two weeks I’ve sat here questioning EVERYTHING — my industry, its future, why I’ve tried so hard to be an outstanding provider and why I give so much of my life to this job, and whether our nation actually values the foundations of childhood, and if it’s worth all of the anguish, stress, and upset that is currently happening.
I have devoted 20 years to early education because I know what it does for children: it nurtures identity, confidence, kindness, resilience, relationships, curiosity — the fundamental building blocks of life and I believe that every child really does deserve the best start in life, But the very systems meant to support that work are being systematically dismantled.
This Government claims it wants to give children “the best start in life” and expand free childcare. But here’s the real picture behind the slogans:
• The hourly funding rates providers are given for free childcare are lower than the true cost of delivering quality care — forcing settings to operate at a loss.
• Settings can no longer charge fair, sustainable fees on funded hours — pricing and financial control are dictated from Whitehall.
• The very essence of choice for parents is being eroded — fewer independent settings means fewer real options for families.
And now, they are *removing allowances that keep our homes — *which are our workplaces — safe, warm, and child-friendly.
👉 The Government plans to scrap the 10 % wear-and-tear and household allowances for childminders once they are moved onto Making Tax Digital (MTD) — allowances that recognise the extra water, heating, cleaning, council tax and everyday equipment use that comes from running childcare in your own home.
No other profession has its workplace in their own home — yet childminders are losing the very tax relief that helps keep that home sustainable.
This change won’t just add administrative headaches — it makes thousands of home-based childcare providers financially unviable, pushing many out of the profession entirely. The unique and flexible childcare options parents rely on will disappear.
And what does that mean?
🔹 Fewer settings — fewer choices for families
🔹 Higher costs and waiting lists as supply shrinks
🔹 More children in government-run or large corporate facilities by default
🔹 Parents increasingly controlled by a system that dictates where and how childcare is delivered
This is not just policy — it’s power.
By controlling funding, allowances, pricing and profitability, the Government is gradually stripping away parents’ choice — not because it’s good for children, but because it centralises control. This is not democracy in action — this is control by another name.
There is almost no media coverage. Millions of parents don’t even know what’s happening to the settings they trust with their children. The stress, fear and financial pressure we are living with is invisible to most — except to those of us fighting to stay open.
We need to be heard.
🗣️ SIGN THESE PETITIONS AND ACT NOW
📌 Stop the removal of the 10% wear and tear & household allowances for childminders — this will protect crucial support that keeps settings financially sustainable:
➡️ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/754843
📌 Support broader early years funding reform — this petition calls for a full independent review of childcare funding so it matches actual cost, not arbitrary government rates:
➡️ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/740633
WE CANNOT GO SILENT
Without thriving childcare providers, Britain loses:
✔︎ The very places that support working parents
✔︎ The nurturing environments that build children’s social and emotional skills
✔︎ The businesses that employ people and contribute to the economy
Our children deserve more than sloganeering and underfunded promises — they deserve choice, quality, continuity, love and real opportunity.
This fight is for our children. Their future. Your freedom of choice as a parent.
Please sign, share, talk, research, and think deeply before placing your next vote. This is about more than childcare — it’s about the kind of country we want Britain to be.
Retain the 10% wear and tear allowance for childminders, or introduce an equivalent alternative that reflects the additional household costs of providing regulated childcare from home and helps ensure childminding remains financially sustainable.
