Britain needs a childcare revolution - article by Meg Hillier MP

Ask any working parent `what the toughest part of the job is, and they'll tell you the same thing - sorting out childcare. It's a constant logistical and financial challenge. I should know: I'm a working Mum.

70% of working parents do not work 9-5, Monday to Friday. In London, and other big cities, with journey-to-work times of over 30 minutes, doing a full day's work is made more difficult by nursery hours. A recent OECD report also found that the UK has some of the most expensive childcare in the world.

In my constituency in Hackney South & Shoreditch, and across Britain, the cost and quality of childcare is becoming the biggest worry for squeezed middle- and lower-income earners. It must become a top priority for politicians and policy-makers if we are to fix the problem.

Liz Truss, the Coalition children's minister, is set to announce her policy. I wish her luck. There are plenty in her party who still consider childcare a peripheral issue, and some who think women should not be out at work at all. Unless Truss addresses head-on the issues of cost, hours, quality and availability, she will have failed working parents and their children.

You can read the full article here