Four UK university leaders urge government to expand free childcare and grants programmes
Leaders of four UK universities have written to the government urging it to expand childcare support schemes so they can be accessed by postgraduate researchers.
The vice-chancellors of the GW4 Alliance of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter universities wrote to the science secretary, Michelle Donelan, and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, calling on the government to give postgraduate researchers access to tax-free grants and to free childcare hours.
In his Spring Budget, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced an expansion in England of a scheme providing 30 hours per week of free childcare. Children will become eligible from the age of nine months, starting in April 2024, whereas at present the scheme is open only to three and four-year-olds.
However, postgraduate researchers—who are classed as students rather than employees—cannot access the scheme.
In England and Wales, postgraduate researchers are also not eligible for tax-free childcare or grants for childcare.
In the letter dated 4 April, the vice-chancellors point out that a typical stipend for a postgraduate student in the UK is currently between £15,000 to £18,000 per year. The charity Coram surveyed local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales and found that the average annual cost of a full-time childcare place for a parent of a child under two is about £14,000.
Failure to allow postgrads to access government schemes could impact “the diversity and inclusivity of postgraduate research”, the vice-chancellors write.
“We encourage the Westminster government and the devolved nations to consider how they can better support our postgraduate researchers with childcare costs and address the current barriers that exist,” they say.
“Doing so would directly address inclusivity and talent development aims embedded not only in the forthcoming postgraduate new deal but also the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Research and Development People and Culture Strategy.”
Research Professional News has contacted the Department for Education and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for comment.
A version of this article appeared in Research Fortnight