A new study by the Nuffield Foundation suggests reducing the six-week summer holiday to four weeks and lengthening half-term breaks, aiming to lessen the childcare burden on working parents.
The Nuffield Foundation, an educational charity, is set to release a study proposing a restructuring of the current UK school calendar by reducing the six-week summer holiday to four weeks and lengthening half-term holidays. This recommendation comes in response to the challenges working parents face during the summer break, particularly in arranging and affording childcare. Parents, such as Victoria Richards, express the difficulty of managing the high costs of summer childcare, which can reach up to £30 per child per day, alongside their work commitments.
The issue is especially pressing for working mothers, who are disproportionately affected during the summer holidays. A report highlighted that nearly two-thirds of working mothers find it difficult to secure adequate childcare during this period, exacerbating their difficulties. The proposed changes to the school calendar aim to alleviate some of these pressures by providing a more balanced schedule that could potentially ease the burden of finding and funding childcare for working parents across the UK.
