AFF’s recent early years childcare survey showed Army parents face the same struggle as their civvy street counterparts when it comes to finding suitable places.
But their situation is often made worse by being isolated from the support of family and friends due to a posting.
More than 200 of you responded when we asked you to share your experiences of childcare for under-fives around the UK and overseas.
Over 60 per cent said it is too expensive and over 70 per cent said it was a struggle to find availability covering the hours you needed.
One parent told us: “More than half my wage is used to cover the nursery cost.”
Some had to make lifestyle changes. The stress of trying to find suitable childcare was flagged up, along with fears children were missing out on socialisation when they weren’t able to attend settings.
Families highlighted variations in the offer in the different UK nations.
A parent said: “We have no family or friends around to help and relieve us, and therefore I couldn’t go back to my job and help out on our finances. It isolates our little one as well as me.”
Sharing the experience
AFF Head of Policy Rachel Smith explained: “We wanted to understand the individual stories around the barriers that Service personnel and families had around their experience of accessing early years childcare.
“Sharing the experience of Army families in their own words with the MOD was really important to AFF in order for us to be able to advocate for better communication and greater understanding of the issues that families face.”
AFF will use the evidence from the survey to help the MOD understand the issues you face. It will advocate for better communication on the childcare offer to help prevent families from missing out.
POSTED ON 30 SEPTEMBER