Dining across the divide: ‘I think his opposition to child benefit came partly from a place where he doesn’t have any kids’
Creaking public services are costing companies in absent staff, employers tell TUC
Money hacks
Eight ways to get your finances ready for having a baby in the UK
Labour gave us Sure Start to tackle child poverty. Now it should hike tax to keep it
Polly Toynbee
Notebook
Rachel Reeves’ budget is like a long car journey, without a Fruit-tella in sight
Alison Phillips
Politics live with Andrew Sparrow
Use of ‘culture wars’ phrase ‘a dog whistle to attack the right’ Badenoch tells GB News Tory leadership special – as it happened
Canada is showing that it’s possible to have universal, affordable childcare. Is the UK brave enough to follow?
Gaby Hinsliff
Young British women struggle more than men to progress at work, study suggests
Of course I look like a crazy dog lady! I am one
Arwa Mahdawi
September 2024
Major fears over Labour’s nursery plan for 9-month-olds in schools
Labour pledges 300 new state nurseries in England within 12 months
Parents are anxious, lonely, overwhelmingly stressed – and their crisis affects everyone
Emma Beddington
Nurseries in England say new rules have reduced care to ‘crowd control’
August 2024
Tell us: how will you be affected by the state-funded childcare expansion in England?
We’d like to hear from parents, early years practitioners, childminders and council workers on the expansion of “free” childcare for all children from the age of nine months
Republic of Parenthood
An anti-childcare movement is spreading online – it’s both disturbing and regressive
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Ignore the trad wife influencers: wanting or needing space from your child is not just normal, but healthy for both of you, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Free childcare pledge in England in peril after Tories ‘recklessly rushed out’ plan
Nurseries warn they lack staff for next month’s expansion of free provision that was promised by Conservatives
July 2024
Parents saving up to £10,000 in nursery benefits may face unexpected tax bills
HMRC says several commercial schemes are exploiting tax exemption aimed at employers who provide nursery places
Summer holiday childcare in UK now costs £1,000 a child, research finds
Parents or carers in full-time work said to be ‘dreading’ expense, and sum may be even higher in Wales and south-east England
‘It’s put so many families in poverty’: people on the impact of the two-child benefit cap
As Labour backbenchers call for Keir Starmer to scrap the cap, families reveal their struggles as a result of the two-child limit
June 2024
Tax giveaways, rent caps and childcare: what the manifestos would mean for your finances
We look at general election pledges from Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems on tax, spending and benefits
