Over 1,000 parents and children are expected to march through Belfast this Saturday to demand that the Northern Ireland Executive deliver on their promise of a Childcare Strategy.
The event has been organised by Melted Parents NI, who will be joined at the event by campaigners and charities to demand meaningful intervention from Stormont ministers. Melted Parents, a parent-led group, is the largest campaign for childcare reform in Northern Ireland with over 20,000 supporters regularly sharing real stories of families impacted by this crisis.
Northern Ireland is still the only part of the UK and Ireland without a childcare strategy, which is vital to support families and to enable the economy to thrive. Parents are reporting being forced out of the workforce and going into poverty due to rising childcare costs.
Despite promises of urgent intervention from the Executive, the group says it's witnessing a troubling lack of tangible progress, which is leaving families feeling abandoned and overwhelmed. For some parents their bills have increased by £100s since the introduction of the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme (NICSS) in September, making any savings they gained redundant.
In a social media poll by Melted Parents this week, 80% of respondents said they considered leaving work or reducing their hours due to childcare costs. Rising childcare costs are pushing parents, particularly women out of the workforce. This then has a ripple effect on the labour market, taxes paid into the system, pensions and the wider economy.
According to Melted Parents price tracker, parents with the highest day fee of £79 a day will now be paying in excess of £41,000 a year (before any subsidies are removed) for two children in full time daycare.
They added that the Subsidy Scheme only helps some families, and many of those it helps have already become redundant due to soaring fee increases. For many parents their bills are now higher than in September ‘24 and that’s with the subsidy included.
Stormont has promised a childcare strategy since 1999, with the Executive announcing it as one of their nine priorities in their Programme for Government. But campaigners say that while parents wait for a deliverable strategy, their bills have gone up by hundreds a month and are still increasing.
Melted Parents say they are extremely concerned that a lack of true parent representation and families lived experience in decision making, campaigning and the charity sector will lead to a poorly designed strategy that doesn’t work for children and families.
Saturday's protest is demanding the Executive expand the subsidy scheme to anyone using registered childcare. including children of all ages, parents who are students, those made redundant, where one parent is a stay at home parent, those in receipt of Universal Credit/Vouchers, unpaid carers etc.
Those behind it say that the subsidy cap should be reviewed and increased, ensuring all families can access the full 15% - ensuring the scheme provides meaningful financial relief.
The rally will take place on Saturday, April 5 at 10.30am from Writer’s Square, marching to Belfast City Hall. Speaking ahead of the event, Raissa Balduino, core member of Melted Parents and lead organiser of the Melted Parents March, said:
“A core objective of our campaign is to politically mobilise parents and show them that they have the power to advocate for change. Last year, over 1,000 of them joined us in marching for urgent intervention, and shortly after, the Subsidy Scheme was announced – we welcomed the support but it didn’t benefit all families and was short-lived, as fees have quickly risen by hundreds of pounds.
“For those eligible, the subsidy has become almost redundant, and for the many who couldn’t access it, costs are higher than ever. This year we expect an even bigger crowd, and we’ll be louder than ever to make it clear to our representatives that we won’t settle for empty promises.“
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