Meeting of the Parliament 26 February 2026 [Draft]
I thank Roz McCall for bringing the debate to the chamber.
Childcare is a matter dear to my heart. I am a grandpa, and my grandson is lucky that, as well as mum and dad, he has grannies and grandpas—and great-grannies and great-grandpas—to fill the gap from time to time. It is also a matter that comes up regularly in our caseloads.
The question at the heart of the motion is whether funded childcare can be a net contributor to the Scottish economy. Nobody questions whether free public education for all is a valuable or necessary step for our economy, and if that level of provision was adopted in early years childcare policy, perhaps we would not question that either. The career benefit to parents is hard to calculate, but, depending on the number of children that someone chooses to have, the lack of childcare provision in Scotland could cost them four, five or six years of their salary over their career, not to mention the detrimental effect on promotions and pension contributions.
We must be cognisant that the burden falls primarily on women now and in later life. There are long-term impacts of having a parent leave work. It is harder to save on one income, and as has been said people have to make conscious decisions when they are paying for kids. There is a strong correlation between someone, as a child, having a parent who was not in work and that person growing up and not being at work.
Expanding funded childcare—