The Programme for Government 2011-15 commits the Northern Ireland (NI) Executive to ‘publish and implement a Childcare Strategy with key actions to provide integrated and affordable childcare’.
There is a recognition in the emerging Childcare Strategy of the need to ensure ‘informed parental choice’, which lends itself to ensuring children get the best start in life, whilst at the same time, providing an accessible and affordable service that will encourage more people to become economically active and thereby lift families out of poverty. Consequently, the emerging strategy needs to be informed by a detailed analysis of the childcare market in NI.
RSM McClure Watters Childcare Research