Displaying items by tag: parents

In England, working parents are being encouraged to apply for 15 hours of free childcare per week for their toddlers starting in the new year. This initiative is part of a broader reform by the Department for Education, which also includes a childminder start-up grant. Additionally, a £400 million funding increase for early years providers is planned for 2024-25. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's budget plans, announced in March, will extend this offer to families of children as young as nine months, providing thirty hours of free childcare every week. Starting in April 2024, this benefit will be available for parents of two-year-olds and will expand to include children over nine months from September next year. However, opposition critics, including the shadow education secretary and Liberal Democrat spokesperson, argue that the policy is not feasible due to a shortage of childcare providers and insufficient government funding. They warn of a potential crisis in childcare services.

This pandemic has sparked a childcare crisis for 3.9 million UK working parents, stuck between the closure of formal childcare and the abrupt withdrawal of informal care provided by relatives and friends. For those fortunate enough to work from home, it means a child or two making an unexpected entrance during a crucial work call. Pray for peace to flow through the homes of families with children facing endless days of lockdown. Pray also for parents navigating a total redesign of working patterns while trying to care for children who are more likely to be anxious, unwell, or fed up with restrictions. Nurseries and day care centres are now closed. Pray for lone parents, or families with disabled children or children with special educational needs, now that they can no longer attend daytime care.

A survey of 1,400 women with Down’s syndrome babies found that 69% were offered a termination. Nearly half who wanted to continue with the pregnancy were asked again. 91% were offered further tests after discovering a high chance of Down's. Of those who declined further tests, 44% were pressurised regardless. One mother said that, even though they made it clear that wasn't an option for them, professionals pushed them about fifteen times to terminate. ‘At 38 weeks they said if I changed my mind on the morning of the induction to let them know, because it wasn't too late; until the baby had started travelling down the birth canal, I could still terminate.’ Millions of pounds are poured into refining the Down’s screening process, whilst £5.33 per person per year is spent on research to improve the lives of people with Down's syndrome.

Pro-family advocates are in an uproar over a newly-passed bill which allows the government to take children away from parents who don't support the LGBT ideology. The bill replaces the Child and Family Services Act which covered child protection, adoption and foster care services. While the old act allowed parents to direct their child's education and religious upbringing, Bill 89 does not take into account the religious faith in which parents will bring up their child. Jack Fonseca, senior political strategist for Campaign for Life Coalition, urged Christian parents to resist the bill and to ask their religious leaders to stand up for the protection of parental rights.

John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for education, has outlined his intent to relaunch the controversial Named Person Scheme. The Scottish Government was compelled to rethink its approach following the success of the No to Named Person Coalition, which argued before the Supreme Court that the scheme was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. CARE also raised concerns that the scheme is an unwelcome intrusion which will undermine parental authority and potentially misuse private data; in practice, parents are best placed to take care of their children. Mr Swinney has not clarified whether the scheme will be proactive or will be responsive to parents’ needs. Whilst CARE is pleased that there has been a consultation on how data will be shared, there has been little attempt to define key terms in the bill which could potentially lead to huge discrepancies in its operation.