A new report has claimed that mothers of young children should be paid £8,000 to stay at home and look after their little ones.
Civitas, the think tank which carried out the research, has urged the UK Government to bundle childcare grants into a single 'family support benefit'. This would see parents of children under the age of four granted up to £8,000 a year, reports Wales Online.
The report states: "We have taken this concept further with proposals for a Family Support Benefit which would roll all £16 billion of government child benefit and child care expenditure into a frontloaded payment.
"We estimate this would give parents of pre-school children up to £8,000 a year in a cash payment, offering them genuine choice over work or childcare."
A government survey in 2019 found that two-thirds of mothers with children under four would prefer to work fewer hours to stay at home, Wales Online reported.
The proposal suggests letting parents claim their full allocation of benefit, which would usually be paid until their child is 18, while youngsters are under five.
Civitas wrote: ''Frontloading' would reduce financial pressure on parents and provide real choice for those who may otherwise be forced to work when they would rather care for their child during those crucial early years."
This would increase the annual payment from £1,114 to £5,101. It also suggests increasing child benefit to pre-2010 levels, boosting the figure to £6,273.
This would then be boosted by almost £2,000 to replace existing childcare subsidies such as the grant for 15 to 30 hours childcare for parents of children aged three or four that is currently paid directly to nurseries.
Anne Fennell, chair of the Mother at Home Matter campaign, said: "Conversations around childcare must positively include and recognise those mothers who would prefer the choice to carry out this valuable work themselves."
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