The SNP is promising more help with childcare costs, from babyhood to secondary, a move that would reduce costs for families and help more parents back into work. But, worryingly, it comes from an electioneering First Minister without any detail on how it would be paid for or delivered, writes Herald columnist Rebecca McQuillan

It’s quite a moment when as a parent you finally reach the point you can stop paying for regular childcare. Costs seem to vary a lot, but for each day in the week when a child is in after-school care (club or childminder), parents will pay £20-£30. So for two children in after-school care three days a week, you’ll be paying at least £4,500 a year and up to £7,000 – and that’s just during term time. Holiday care could be hundreds or even thousands more.

The cost of that care makes the economics of work difficult, particularly for people in low paid jobs. Parents who are keen to work sometimes run the numbers and find it’s not worth it. So John Swinney’s offer of childcare for every child from nine months to the end of primary school, could actually be as “transformational” as Mr Swinney claims – in theory.

Free childcare is currently available for all three- and four-year-olds for 1140 hours (30 hours a week for 38 weeks a year) and there’s further support available for some two-year-olds. Though much better than it used to be, that’s an island of support in a sea of childcare costs. The First Minister promises to contribute more towards those costs starting at the end of a typical maternity leave and continuing until the start of secondary school, promising between £1,400 and £11,000 a year dependent on a family’s need.

“We will deliver a brand-new childcare system that fits around families, rather than expecting families to fit around the system”,........

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