Labour and Conservative childcare policies could win over swing voters, study finds

Childcare manifesto promises could influence swing voters ahead of the general election, according to new research.

A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found swing voters are 1.3 times more likely to prioritise lowering the cost of childcare and boosting its availability than the average voter.

Swing voters who are parents are 2.3 times more likely to do so, according to the think tank.

Researchers found that childcare is among the top three priorities of just over one in 10 swing voters for the election on 4 July.

Rachel Statham, associate director at IPPR, said: “When the UK government announced the largest-ever expansion of free childcare last spring, they might have expected to reap the benefits at the next general election.

“But a botched rollout and a lack of resources has left parents and providers without the security they need.”

She said parents and grandparents want improved funding for nurseries to stop closures and ensure staff are trained “over and above further expansion of free childcare hours”.

Ms Statham added: “Whichever party offers a credible plan for childcare may well stand to win over a crucial constituency of swing voters come July.”

The Independent recently revealed that thousands of nurseries have shut their doors amid staffing shortages, sparking fears that the government’s promise to expand free childcare was “doomed to failure”.

The first part of the chancellor’s £4bn extension of free childcare – an attempt to win over voters in the lead-up to the election in July – came into force last month.

Under the new policy, eligible working parents of two-year-olds have been told they can claim 15 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks per year from April onwards. From September 2025, working parents with children under five can claim 30 hours of free childcare for 38 weeks per year.

The new research found more than half of voters would support a political party that boosts childcare for disadvantaged families.

Researchers polled more than 4,000 adults and more than 2,000 parents and grandparents in England.

Approached by The Independent, none of the three main parties would explitly set out their childcare policies.

Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “Across the country, voters can see that our childcare system is creaking at the seams and ripe for the change only Labour can bring.

“That’s why Labour will deliver the lasting reform of childcare and early years that families are crying out for. The respected former chief inspector of Ofsted, Sir David Bell, is working with Labour to help develop our plans to make childcare more accessible, more available and of a higher quality, giving parents choices in the workplace and children the best start in life.”

Munira Wilson, Lib Dem education spokesperson, accused the Tories of forging “childcare deserts through their years of neglect”, saying her party wants “quality childcare provision for all”.

She said: “Free hours are no good if parents can’t find a good nursery or childminder for their child – and thanks to Conservative ministers’ underfunding, millions of parents now face the almost impossible task of finding childcare.

“There are fewer providers, less choice for parents and no guarantee they will find a place for their child at all.”

The Conservative Party did not provide a comment.

The new research found just under half of parents with young children say they have a nursery which is easily accessible and around a quarter of the public deem childcare to be affordable.

Around seven in 10 parents with part-time jobs said childcare was the cause of their choice not to go full-time.