GW4 letter to Government calling for action on childcare provision for postgraduate students
The GW4 Alliance of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter universities has today written to government ministers and our local MPs raising the vital issue of access for postgraduate researchers to government-backed childcare schemes.
The letters, signed by the four university Vice-Chancellors, outline the key recommendations and findings from our policy note: ‘Who cares How postgraduate parents fall through the gap for government childcare grants, and how to fix it’.
The report, published today by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), shines a light on the unacknowledged gap in childcare support for postgraduate students, in direct contrast to the support and provisions available for undergraduate students and workers.
The report argues that postgraduate students, who are parents, have been forgotten by previous governments. Students studying for Masters and PhDs are ineligible for Childcare Grants, which are in place for full-time undergraduates to help with childcare costs for children under 15 years old. They are also ineligible for the childcare benefits available to workers unless they are in substantial paid employment in addition to their studies.
GW4 is calling on Government to extend the undergraduate Childcare Grant to postgrads and, as a further step, recommends Government consider how to extend the free-hours entitlements currently available to workers to those in postgraduate education, a critical part of the research workforce.
Dr Joanna Jenkinson MBE, GW4 Alliance Director, said: “Postgraduate researchers have fallen between the gaps in government childcare provision, usually unable to meet the eligibility requirements for government schemes or student support. GW4 is concerned that the current childcare grant policy is having a negative impact on the diversity and inclusivity of postgraduate research and is limiting opportunities for parents who are economically disadvantaged.
“We want to work with government to ensure parents of young children are not disincentivised from upskilling or reskilling and pursuing postgraduate qualifications and then accessing the high-skilled jobs that require these qualifications."
Read the full report: Who cares How postgraduate parents fall through the gap for government childcare grants, and how to fix it
