As I am writing this piece, my youngest daughter is spending her final hours in the care of our local nursery . When I pick her up at 5pm, it will mark the end of seven long and expensive years paying a second mortgage for part-time childcare . Neither of my two children have attended for more than three days a week, but even still we’ve spent the equivalent of a deposit on another house on childcare . Getting them from birth to reception class while still trying to hold on to some semblance of my career has cost our family around £50,000.

Despite that vast outlay (enough for a bespoke kitchen! A Caribbean cruise every year!) I still feel like I’ve dodged a bullet. The Government has invested a staggering £5bn in childcare support, by expanding eligibility for 30 free hours to child

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