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Compare the current Childcare Vouchers system to Gordon Brown’s plan:
| Current Childcare Vouchers system | Gordon Brown’s new plan | Who will be worst affected? | |
| Tax and National Insurance savings for parents? |  |
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Parents |
| Help parents pay for out of school clubs, holiday schemes and activity clubs? | |
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Parents |
| Help parents with children over 2 years old? | |
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Parents |
| Help parents with children up to the age of 16? | |
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Parents |
| National Insurance savings for employers? | |
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Employers and parents |
| Help parents return and remain at work? | |
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Employers and parents |
| A guaranteed method of childcare payment for carers? | |
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Carers |
| Higher occupancy in nurseries, out of school clubs, holiday schemes and activity clubs? | |
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Carers |
As a childcare provider, I absolutely agree, that in terms of parental benefits, they are an excellent vehicle. In terms of a guaranteed method of childcare payments for carers; they do not cover fees completely and inevitably parents do top ups. Childcare voucher providers do not make reconciliation of parent’s payments easy or quick. There are additional costs to the business in terms of time spent by Managers and Book-keepers on monthly reconciliations. Prior to childcare vouchers the payment for fees was made directly to me as a centre with no conduit of a childcare voucher provider. There were no phone calls to be made or on line checking of transactions, fees were paid on time, ensuring cash flow was not an issue and were immediately reconciled between provider and parent. I agree that there is a higher occupancy in nurseries, but only slightly and I question whether it is too big a cost to pay for centres. I would advocate that if vouchers are to stay, that they are paid directly to the childcare provider and miss out the middle man completely.
What is wrong with this man?? I am a childminder and have hardly had any inquries for many months as is the same for other childminders in my area. This is because of what is happening in the economy and parents have been made redundant and are staying home to look after their own kids. The few parents who are still sending their children to us will now stop as they can’t afford childcare without the vouchers!
So much for helping working families! I wish I had something more intelligent to write but am simply mystified at this time.
I feel that the scrapping of vouchers is a real kick in the teeth for working parents. 10 hours childcare for low income families isn’t going to encourage people back to work. People who need to work are already doing so. It seems to me that if you work hard and pay your way you get no credit for it, but if you don’t people fall over themselves to try to help you.
I earn a firly good wage but I would have to make cuts elsewhere if the vouchers were scrapped.
I guess this is the start of many Gordon Brown cuts to bail us out of the national dept. Well he’s just lost my vote!
As ever the plans will hit working families. The nursery my sons go to is not eligible for the “free” 10 hours per week for 3 year olds and I guess will not be eligible for the plan to give this to 2 year olds. So we will see no benefit whatsoever with the new plans. The only people I know who benefit from this “free” childcare are people who are lucky enough not to have to work and so childcare not covered by the 3h/day is easy for them.
I would not object to removing the childcare vouchers from people paying higher rates of income tax, but let the rest of the working population benefit for once. Giving tax breaks to people lucky enough to be paying 40% tax is stealing from the poor to give to the rich
I THINK ITS SO FOOLISH FOR THE GOVERNEMNT TO SCRAP THE SCHEME. WITHOUT THE SCHEME, EITHER MY PARTNER WOULD HAVE TO STOP HER UNIVERSITY COURSE OR I WOULD HAVE HAD TO GIVE UP WORK TO STAY AT HOME. MR BROWN WANTS AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO WORK TO BOOST THE ECONOMY, BUT HE IS TAKING AWAY OUR MEANS OF DOING SO.
IT’S BAD ENOUGH NOT GETTING HELP WITH CHILDCARE, BUT TO TAKE THIS AWAY FROM US AS WELL, CHILD CARE IS SO EXPENSIVE, BUT A MEANS FOR OUR SON TO MIX AND DEVELOP WITH CHILDREN HIS OWN AGE.
MAYBE MR BROWN SHOLD TRY TO LIVE TODAY ON OUR WAGES NOT HIS, OR EVEN ON MINIMAL WAGE UNDER A LABOUR GOVERNMENT AND SEE HOW HE WILL SURVIVE.
The childcare scheme as it exists disproportionally helps the better off.
Firstly, because it is a wage sacrifice scheme, people on minimum wage can’t access it, as it would mean they were then earning less than minimum wage, which is illegal.
Secondly, only people with good employers who subscribe to the scheme can benefit – what about everyone else?
Thirdly, those who are in the higher tax bands make the most savings from this scheme.
This scheme is very worthwhile and should definately not be scrapped. It is not often that working parents like myself and my parter get any reward from the government for paying our taxes. It seems that the ‘disadvantaged’ are getting the wrong type of help. Stop lining their pockets with our hard earned cash and encourage a new attitude to life and work.
I am disgusted by this. I believe that Gordon Brown was an unmitigated disaster as a Chancellor and is no better as PM. My consolation is that he will be consigned to the dustbin of history after the election next year, and I hope that the new government would re-consider this half-baked plan.
Loosing the childcare vouchers is a terrible idea. It’s hard enough to manage working ful time wiht 2 children in childcare – this would make it almost impossible.
Without the childcare vouchers, I would not be able to afford to work during the day (I am a working mum with 2 children), I would have to stop using my childminder, and work when my husband is back from work if that is possible
Axing the childcare vouchers will only result in more people being out of work, employee and childminders.
These vouchers mean the difference between me having to work 6 days rather than 7 days a week between working in an employed job 4 days a week and self employed for the remaining 2 days. My day off that I have is spent as quality time with my daughter. If I didn’t have these vouchers I would have to work 7 days a week to make ends meet. My husband and I don’t claim any other benefits as he is also self employed so this is the only form of benefit we receive from the government and now they want to take it away.
SHAME ON YOU POLITICIANS FOR PENALISING THE HARD WORKING PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY.
What seems to me to be blindingly obvious (but apparently not to Gordon) is that if parents stop working (or even stop working a bit) because of the increased cost of child care out of gross rather than net pay, then their salaries will be less (fewer hours) or nonexistent; and the cost to the state in terms of decreased tax revenue is likely to be far more than the cost to the state of providing the child care vouchers in the first place. This is cutting the Government’s nose off to spite their face, but it’ll be US that pay. AGAIN. Not a happy person.
It’s always the same – penalise those who work hard, earn an honest living and limit the number of children they have so they don’t rely on the state. This is just another example of where there those who put a bit of thought into planning their lifes, and get virtually no help from the state whatever the circumstances, lose out on the litle help they do get. How is this move going to encourage people to work – oh well I suppose the savings will help to keep a few more parents with multiple children they can’t afford.
I am a single mother and only recieve £100 a month maintenance from my daughters father. Although I have a good job because I am left to pay almost all expenses for my daughter myself, I could not afford to keep my child in a creche where she is happy, safe and flourishing, without the support from child care vouchers. I am not entitled to any child tax credits. No child care means no availability to work, means no way of paying a mortgage. Next stop living off the state!!
It does seem incredibly short sighted – the country has paid alot to educate and train me and I now work in the NHS, but if/when we loose this support I will be forced to stay at home, because childcare will become more expensive than what I earn – what a waste of all that training/time/money. I am one of thousands of people for whom this will be the case.
My partner and I work for charities and with just the one child could just about cope with us both working and paying childcare without the vouchers. If we have a second child, then one of us won’t be working until the children are both in school full time. So a waste of experience, training, education and so on.
Labour wasn’t getting my vote anyway with Gordon Brown and his spend and sell attitude when the financial climate was good and then hit the workers of the country for it when the financial climate is bad.
thank you mr brown – i have to work fulltime like millions of offer mums – and in doing this i get child care vouchers – but what would be the point, if these were cancelled. I hope Mr Brown will come and look after my child then. So i can still carry on working to keep the wolves from my door.
Glad to say never been a labour supporter, and this just confirms my reasons! This so called prime minister leaves me wondering what his reasons are behind ’shafting’ the british public once again. Maybe if all these cabinet minister were payed less and lived in the real world then they would appreciate how difficult it is to make ends meet. It seems that families who wish to better them selfs are the ones that pay the cost.
Look forward to the next election.
Several years ago I found the vouchers invaluable to help with childcare – I had just qualified and was supporting a family on one income with significant student debt that needed to be paid off. The difference to me was critical in facilitating me funding childcare and I was extremely grateful for them at the time. Now that my earnings are higher and circumstances different it would not be a problem again, but I hope that Mr Brown will reconsider – it will be a great shame if the scheme is pulled
Without the childcare scheme, there is no financial benefit in my wife going to work. The amount she earns only just covers the cost of the child care. So scrap the vouchers, but lose the income tax that my wife pays on her earnings, lose another good teacher from a school… Idiotic idea from an idiotic government …
The Voucher scheme is one that helps many working parents. Why is it that Mr Brown always wants to Penalise those who are working, paying their taxes & who are trying to provide for their own??? He can hand out food, Free NHS, Benefits, Free Housing & much more to every other b****r who comes into our country to sponge off of Our State & yet he wants to take away what little help is provided for working parents!!!!! And he wonders why there is so much Bitterness in this world……….He’s only got himself to answer too!!!!! Thanks Mr Brown!!
Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.
I work full time as does my husband, both in the public sector. It is relatively low paid jobs like ours which keep the country afloat, and childcare vouchers have enabled us to work full time in the jobs that we love whilst raising two young boys. Why should we have to abandon our hopes of a third child, or reduce our working hours in these critical jobs, as a result of the scrapping of childcare vouchers? Surely it’s better for the country to have us both working full time – my husband in the police and me in teaching – than to scrap vouchers and force one of us to stay at home for a period of time in the week to look after our children because we cant afford our huge £1000 a month nursery bill without tax relief? I can’t understand this decision, although yet again it seems like another tax on the middle classes to pay for those who don’t want to work.
I don’t think anybody on this page really understand the scheme and how it works outside of their own personal experience.
Anyone who is stuggling should support moves that abolish us susidising the rich so they can use them to pay for boarding fees and horseriding. They save more than you and the biggest savers (money which would othewise be in the public purse) are the companies that offer vouchers as a benefit. The bigger the company the bigger the saving and the lower the charges from the voucher providers so this scheme uses your taxes to give the richest and largest companies the biggest savings and many of them have already had billions from the tax payer for the mess they put us all in.
Maybe you think you need more help and you should campaign for it but getting rid of this entirely unjust scheme is a good thing.
I have to make a similiar comment to one posted earlier. Working in the public sector as a NHS nurse, a lot of tax payers money was spent on my training. The child care vouchers allows me to work part-time. Without it I would end up paying more in child-care than I’d be earning and would therefore have to give up my job. What a waste of a skilled nurse and tax-payers money.
Is it just me, or do you feel the harder you work and try and make a good life for you and your children, the harder the government make it. My Husband lost his job last year and took on anything he could to make ends meat, as Government help was a joke! He now has a job and we are getting back on track, with no thanks to any jobseekers or government aides. Yet there are people on benefits that I know of, who are constantly going out, buying new clothes, visiting hair salons twice a week just to name a few things. How is this possible being on BENEFITS. Us workers are the mugs, you are better off being on BENEFITS!!!! How about cutting some of their benefits, as they are obviously getting way too much, to be able to enjoy such frequent luxuries!!! Sorry to vent but it makes me MAD!!!!!
WHAT A COMPLETE JOKE
What a stupid thing to do! It makes me so angry!Stupid idiot! Wreckless and greedy Banks bring our country’s financial system to its knees and as a “reward” get bailed out to the tune of billions by the tax payer. So what does Gordon Brown do, punishes hard working families. We then get the scandal of MP’s expenses. Greedy politicians who line their own pockets with our money. I can not beleive a labour government are planning to do this. They are no longer fit to hold office. Having said that I don’t beleive the tories are either. If Gordon Brown does this, I’ll never vote labour again and I say that as a school teacher. It reminds me of when Margret Thatcher abolished free milk for primary children. Making parents and their children suffer is immoral. Shame on on you Gordon! Shame on you!
My story is the same as so many above. My husband and I rely on the vouchers with me working part time since having our little one and my husband in full time education (he was made redundant in November 08 and spent almost a year trying to get work, to no avail, and was not eligible for JSA or any other benefit). A third of my take home wage goes on childcare, a third on the mortgage and the rest trying to make ends meet. The small amount of help we get makes a massive difference.
To those that feel that this would be a goog thing….Many people, including myself, aren’t thinking about anything but ourselves but that’s all we have to go on – if by scrapping the scheme we are going to struggle to make ends meet thus risk losing our houses etc then of course it’s going to make us feel like we do. The theory about it all in the big picture is fine but it’s my NHS pay packet which I look at at the end of the month.
It is disgusting that the government wants to scrap this.
As a married man with a non working house wife looking after my children full time I get no tax breaks. My wife gets no benefits, claims for nothing. Married mans allowance has long gone.
These vouchers are what allows my 2.5 year old to attend nursery 2 afternoons a week. My wife often complains that infants whose parents are on benefit get to send their 2 year olds daily for nothing.
The current system is unfair and favors the non working,
Well Thank you for yet again Mr Brown for penalising the hardworking parents of this country, what do we get for working hard, paying for childcare, and claiming no benefits whatsoever – Answer – nothing and then they are going to take the little bit of tax break we do get away, well thats brilliant isn’t it, thanks Mr Brown. I am infuriated at this decision.
We work hard pay a mortgage, childcare and run a home and yet they would rather take away help from the working and give to the unemployed and poor (and I’m not talking about the poor people who have lost there jobs due to the recession) I am talking about the millions of others playing the system, but rather than get these monies by tackling the real problems and issues in Britain today just take our help. Well he has lost my vote and wouldn’t vote for Cameron either who has pledged to close local Sure Start Centers amongst other things. and they talk about communities – What a JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
To abolish this scheme is utterly diabolical, my husband and I both work (I work part time) and find that the childcare scheme can facilitate this. I urge the government to rethink this as many many part time professional mothers (nurses, teachers, social workers) will not remain in their jobs if they have to pay for full cost nursery places.
My Wife is a registered Nurse and HAS to work a minimum number of hours every 3 years to keep up her registration, the tax vouchers mean that this is just about feasible, if the scheme is scrapped, then I will actually end up PAYING for the privilage of keeping a Nurse on the books of the NHS, not good!
How can anyone claim that these vouchers supliment the rich, It is this kind of “hang everyone who is not me” attitude that causes many of the problems we have in this country. To say that because someone is “lucky” enough to pay 40% tax is ridiculous. Most people (I accept not all) who pay 40% tax do so through hardwork and struggling, they don’t just fall into it. And the only reason they get more tax relief than people on basic rate is because they pay so much more in the first place.
Far from a drain on the poor it is the workers of this country that hold the whole system up and the higher rate tax payers contribute more than most. How about we stop being jelous of what others have and start to try and better ourselves instead.
By the way, I am not a Higher rate payer and if the voucher scheme is scrapped my wife will probably have to quit work despite the fact that I work two jobs. But instead of sitting at the bottom winging that others are better off I am going to fight my whole life to improve what I have. Perhaps if we all had that attitude we would not feel the need to scrap the few things that the people who are funding the system actually get back.
I really can’t believe how short sighted this is both politically and economically. I think Mr. Brown may just be about to have a moment similar to Maggie Thatcher’s withdrawing of free school milk.
1 – This is a valuable tool to help get people, mostly mums, back working, earning and paying taxes. It really is a mistake to deprive the economy of this experienced, entrepreneurial and valuable group.
2 – The childcare support we receive as British citizen already lags way behind comparable nations.
3 – The way this is being pitched “take from the rich to give to poor” is a smoke screen and a divisive one at that. 70% of the vouchers are claimed by those paying the basic rate of tax and in any case, I don’t think we should be depriving mums in 40% tax paying household from the opportunity to return to work.
My wife and I have a two year old and I genuinely doubt whether we could have afforded for both of us to return to work if we hadn’t had this support, which gave us real encourgament.
After all, Gordon has shown tremendous support to the bankers responsible for this whirlpool of debt. We should be seeing an extension of the scheme to allow more gross contributions. I’d like to see the next government support mums and dads into work so we can get a head start on paying off the national debt we took on for the bankers before our children reach working age.
I have consistently voted labour, however, this has really very much angered me and for this reason alone, I shall NOT be voting labour in the next general election.
I work bloody hard, I am earning nearly enough to tip me over into top rate tax, but not quite enough. The vouchers have been a massive help for us with our almost 4 year old daughter – and we are trying for another baby and of course, had relied on future voucher assistance. This will place yet further strain on our finances in the coming years, if this goes ahead.
This is a damn disgrace. I’m furious. I was beginning to have a little more respect for G. Brown in recent weeks, but I can’t wait to cast my Tory vote now in the next General Election.
Without the voucher scheme we could no longer afford to send him to nursery – where our child is safe, making friends and very happy. We could never dream of having two children like Gordon Brown does if this scheme is stopped.
We are very modest middle income people but if the scheme is scrapped I couldn’t remain in my current employment as not feasible for employer to maintain current position part-time & even if was possible would not be economical to travel to work (I use public transport)
I would have to quit and work part-time in some lower paid/ lower skilled job = A waste of my qualifications, years of experience, loss of achievement & job satifaction
I thought this government was suppose to be making the workplace more accessible to women – scrappage of this scheme would mean for some like me an inability to keep at same level or progress to senior appointments and possibly to even have to give up on career as someone would need to stay and provide childcare and majority of families the man earns the highest wage.
Our children suffer – Female workforce suffer – employers suffer
Reform current voucher scheme but dont scrap it too many people depend on it to help make ends meet.
I cannot believe that Gordon Brown wants to scrap the Childcare Vouchers. He obviously wants parents to stay at home and not work!
These vouchers have enabled me to go back to work after Maternity leave. Without these vouchers I would struggle to pay my Childcare fees.
Does Mr Brown want Mums to stay at home? Offering free places from the age of 2 years to compensate losing this scheme is NOT enough! We need the financial help in the first 2 years of returning back to work.
Mr Brown you are making a big mistake scrapping this Voucher scheme.
Please help Mums and Dads return to work – not stay at home!
hello,
i went to the busy bees vouchers page this morning to grab a contact number . . saw the “plans” . .. . STUNNED ! ! !
one of the reasons why i joined the scheme is because i get a tax break and because my partner and i are seperated and by giving her vouchers towards childcare im 100% confident that the money is going towards the children. it also lessens the hit to my wages and im able to still support both myself and my children. this scheme provided a mechanism for my situation whereby everyone was able to benefit.
I firmly support the scheme and even introduced it to other parents at my place of employment.
I am a strong believer of a system that has been designed so that people can help themselves. i dont want handouts i want to work i want to be able to provide for my children. they need an education and pre schools etc are essential for a childs development. fees are extortionate and most nurserys and pre schools are privatly run and they need to be able to run a buisness.
[rant]
this f*****g goverment does nothing towards getting parents back to work and getting the kids into early education. the continual waste of tax money by throwing money time and time again at a**holes who do nothing but sponge does nothing towards unemployment and the economy.
[end rant]
by giving parents a tax break on the vouchers generated employment oportunities as well as helped get children into school at an earlier age. it has also driven the preschool sector with providers having an increased level of economic security. by having a tax break it provided a mechanism to activly give back to those who contribute into the system.
Child care voucher scheme is helping working parents send their children to nursery and aftercare.