UK finance minister unveils new free childcare policy

LONDON: UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt announced on Wednesday most working parents in England will be offered 30 hours of free childcare for their under-fives, to ease cost-of-living pressures on families.

The policy, part of the government´s tax and spending plans unveiled in the budget, will eventually apply for 38 weeks of the year, from when a child is nine-months-old until they start school aged around five. It comes alongside a host of childcare measures aimed at encouraging more women back into the workplace -- or to remain working -- after having children, while better funding the sector. Childcare costs in the UK are among the highest in the 38-nation OECD, accounting for nearly a third (29 percent) of a family´s income compared to just nine percent in France.