**A person should be in a financial stable position and able to pay for childcare before considering having a child.** - It is a persons own choice, usually, to have a child. So, a person has time to consider their situation when thinking about having a child. A parent should take into consideration if they are in a financial position appropriate for a child. We all know that kids are expensive. - Very simply, if a person cannot financially support having a child, they shouldn’t really have one. - However I do recognise that childcare is expensive, usually amounting to just over [£6000](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjAjMrvt5XyAhVPUcAKHaS4B98QFnoECAUQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.daynurseries.co.uk%2Fadvice%2Fchildcare-costs-how-much-do-you-pay-in-the-uk&usg=AOvVaw1_xnldaqvpv8QD4DNibW_C) a year. So, for lower paid jobs it would be difficult to afford childcare. So it should not be free, but cheaper.

**Childcare should be free for those that need it the most, however, this should not be at the expense of the childcare providers** - In the UK, 3 to 4 year olds are eligible for [570 free hours](https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds) in the year. Perhaps there is a case to be made that if these free hours of childcare were to be extended not just by hour but to other ages, it should be means-tested. - This would be particularly useful for those that work low-wage jobs that do not cover the cost of childcare. - However, this does not mean that staff should be compensated less as a result, or that the standard of care will be lower because it is free. - Grandparents/relatives/friends often do this labour for free - but not everyone has access to this. There’s also a question as to whether they should do this labour for free. If they offer to help for free, then this can be seen as reasonable. However, some may argue that the parent(s) of the child(ren) should be able to afford the cost of childcare having agreed to (in most cases) having a child. - In addition, If you are able to afford to pay for childcare, then you should be able to do so

**Childcare is extortionate and puts a lot of financial pressures on families and therefore should be free.** Childcare in the UK is [extremely expensive](https://www.daynurseries.co.uk/advice/childcare-costs-how-much-do-you-pay-in-the-uk): - The average cost of putting a child in a nursery part-time is over £7,000 in 2021 - A part-time childminder place is on average £6,150 a year in 2021 - Families paying for after-school club five days a week is on average £62.13 per week - The price for full-time childcare (50 hours) is only slightly lower than twice the costs of part-time childcare (25 hours). For a lot of people, this kind of money is not feasible to pay for childcare which often leads to children alone much younger than they should be or having to rely on family help which can create tension in families. In addition to this, for a lot of people who work 9-5 jobs, schooling takes up a lot of the time that they would require childcare. But for a lot of people who would struggle to pay for childcare, their jobs require them to work more unsociable hours like evening, shift or even night work. This then only exacerbates the issues of paying for childcare. For these reasons, I think that childcare should be free.