School’s nearly out for summer and there’s one word on every mother’s lips – help! | Rhiannon Picton-James

All the options for childcare are either too short, too expensive or just rubbish. No wonder the birthrate is fallingEveryone told me “the juggle” would get easier when my daughter started reception this year. It was, quite simply, a lie. As any parent of a school-aged child will tell you they’re hardly ever there.Mothers started exchanging panicked messages about the summer holiday in our class WhatsApp group in May, sharing links to clubs and childcare options they’ve already booked, which all look terrible, and possibly worse than just juggling it all at home. And I only have one child. This week, a UN report revealed that millions of people around the world are not having as many children as they would like, and I know why: yes, it’s “the high cost of parenthood”, and for many of us a big part of that is paying for something to do with your offspring when school is not looking after them. Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions

Dailymail

Reeves and Starmer are defunding the police. Even loyal Labour ministers are telling DAN HODGES that the Chancellor's spending decisions are 'bonkers' and Britain's thin blue line will be stretched to breaking point...

about 1 hour ago

Dailymail

PETER HITCHENS: To those bomb-happy fools rejoicing at war I ask you this: Do you really want to see the Middle East become a radioactive wasteland?

about 1 hour ago

Lefties’ assisted suicide push and more: Letters to the Editor — June 15, 2025

Newyork Post

I watched my sexy, bubbly wife turn into a bottle-a-night wine bore. Now she has started doing something in bed that disgusts me: SAUCY SECRETS

about 2 hours ago

Dailymail

Why Tasmania will always be Australia's biggest loser - and it's not just because of THAT doomed footy stadium. Plus, Q+A is dead... but there will be more TV funerals to come: PVO

about 2 hours ago

Who will tell the truth? Economically, we are in a mess

The Herald

The Club World Cup is a grubby, contrived vanity project of Gianni Infantino that was neither needed nor asked for - it's a LIV Golf paradox and proves football has a saturation point, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

about 6 hours ago

The Herald

Has the curse of Meghan struck again? The smart set's latest whispers about her once closest confidante, revealed by RICHARD EDEN

about 16 hours ago

Dailymail

ANDREW PIERCE: Is Angela Rayner's hard-Left boyfriend plotting to put her in No 10 as revenge for his sacking by Starmer's ruthless right-hand man?

about 16 hours ago

Dailymail

How Ballymena boiled over: After horrifying riots sparked by two Romanians being accused of raping teen, RICHARD KAY meets the victims - and locals furious at 'endless stream of migrants' they had no say over

about 16 hours ago

US appeasement of Iran made Rising Lion inevitable — but Israel’s strikes may transform the Middle East

Newyork Post

BORIS JOHNSON: Starmer's leading the most abject and craven British government of the past 100 years. They are so weak they make Neville Chamberlain look positively robust

about 22 hours ago

Letter to the editor: To left, freedom means absence of morality

washington times

BORIS JOHNSON: The bombers Ukraine destroyed with their brilliantly audacious Operation Spiderweb helped Putin blow up babies in their cots. So why hasn't Labour issued one word of celebration or congratulation?

1 day ago

Letters to the Editor: Harsh charges against protesters are meant to 'foment fear and anxiety'

LA Times

Unseen pictures of King Charles that show him as never before: ROBERT HARDMAN reveals what really happens to the artists that go on royal tours - including the odd brush with disaster

1 day ago

The Herald

Caring for the future: how can Scotland fund the care home capacity it needs?

1 day ago

The Herald

Hypocrisy and double standards taint the West’s view of Israel

1 day ago

Comments

Similar News

Scotland has built Schrödinger's Schools – succeeding and failing at the same time

Ukrainian pupils taking refuge in the UK should get free school meals | Letter

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Anger as Middletons' friend and former Reading FC chairman Sir John Madejski's name is stripped from school he gave £3million to

PETER HITCHENS: The private school pupils refused NHS care show we're becoming a People's Republic by stealth - ruled by blank-eyed bureaucrats

Trump got shipped off to military school. Now we all pay the price.

To fix our public schools, follow ... D.C.? Yes, you heard that right.

The Guardian view on child poverty: free school meals are a help, but not a panacea | Editorial

QUENTIN LETTS: So noble was the minister's school-meal pulpiteering, you'd think it was the abolition of slavery

Frederick professional team provides fans old school fun in new age era

Why are hard working parents paying for school meals for kids of lazy feckless scroungers who can’t be bothered to work?

Free school meals for more children in England is a positive thing, but there’s a catch | Polly Toynbee

Fresh proof school choice can save Catholic schools — and help more generations of kids thrive

Clueless Labour’s class war against Farage won’t stop him… Reform voters care about policies not what school he went to

Letters to the Editor: Battle over transgender athletes in school sports is only hurting the kids

Schools are flunking the First Amendment

A new kind of gentrification is spreading through London – and emptying out schools | Anna Minton

Cheers for school choice — competition makes ALL education better

Stop being so defensive about our schools and learn lessons from abroad

This house believes private schools should be abolished

Mental-health lessons in schools sound like a great idea. The trouble is, they don’t work | Lucy Foulkes

Opinions

Reeves and Starmer are defunding the police. Even loyal Labour ministers are telling DAN HODGES that the Chancellor's spending decisions are 'bonkers' and Britain's thin blue line will be stretched to breaking point...

PETER HITCHENS: To those bomb-happy fools rejoicing at war I ask you this: Do you really want to see the Middle East become a radioactive wasteland?

Lefties’ assisted suicide push and more: Letters to the Editor — June 15, 2025

Iran’s lies about its nuclear plans finally at an end

Keep menace Zohran Mamdani completely off your NYC ballot in the Democratic mayoral primary

Why LA’s ICE riots reveal decades of California’s political decay

I watched my sexy, bubbly wife turn into a bottle-a-night wine bore. Now she has started doing something in bed that disgusts me: SAUCY SECRETS

Why Tasmania will always be Australia's biggest loser - and it's not just because of THAT doomed footy stadium. Plus, Q+A is dead... but there will be more TV funerals to come: PVO

Who will tell the truth? Economically, we are in a mess

Powerful vested interests killed new national park at birth - SNP should be ashamed

Why AI — not DEI — could be society’s great equalizer

Why Israel’s attack on Iran is Netanyahu’s legacy-in-the-making

BEL MOONEY: As a British Jew, I have never felt so terrified as I do now

The Club World Cup is a grubby, contrived vanity project of Gianni Infantino that was neither needed nor asked for - it's a LIV Golf paradox and proves football has a saturation point, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

The Herald cartoon on Edinburgh Festivals and the BBC

Father's Day: When we all pretend that dads are just as important as mums

No more Edinburgh Book Festival for me – where did it all go wrong?

Do the Scottish Conservatives have any reason to exist?

I'm not sure Edinburgh Council's biggest problem is too many Christmas parties

We're drifting into a deadly arms race. Why can't we curb this Cold War thinking?

Israel's blow against Iran

No quarter can be given in the war against Iran's deadly ambitions

After Trump restores fort names, it’s time to end the silly renaming wars

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Israel's enemies are Britain's enemies

ANDREW NEIL: Israel holds the cards. Trump has been squared. The mullahs in Tehran must now fear for their existence

Has the curse of Meghan struck again? The smart set's latest whispers about her once closest confidante, revealed by RICHARD EDEN

ANDREW PIERCE: Is Angela Rayner's hard-Left boyfriend plotting to put her in No 10 as revenge for his sacking by Starmer's ruthless right-hand man?

How Ballymena boiled over: After horrifying riots sparked by two Romanians being accused of raping teen, RICHARD KAY meets the victims - and locals furious at 'endless stream of migrants' they had no say over

US appeasement of Iran made Rising Lion inevitable — but Israel’s strikes may transform the Middle East

Beyond Father's Day: The public institution we can't afford to ignore

How tariffs are shifting economic power between generations

Help your children fulfill their potential, every day

Why Iran may back down after Israel’s devastating attack

LA riots against immigration raids: Letters to the Editor — June 14, 2025

The dads we should honor — like ‘Calvin Duper’ Munerlyn — but sadly . . . don’t

Anti-ICE rioters are just as out of line as anti-black racists in ‘62

ALEX BRUMMER: Iran attacks pile agony on economy

Has Emma Raducanu found a love match with dashing fellow-teenage prodigy she has known since she was six?

Learn not to burn, Dems must take border issue seriously and other commentary

Israel has struck. Now Trump must lead.

Israel’s Iran slam tells ALL dictators: The free world will defend itself

Letters to the Editor: The 'hypocrisy' in senator's threatened investigation into immigrant advocates

BORIS JOHNSON: Starmer's leading the most abject and craven British government of the past 100 years. They are so weak they make Neville Chamberlain look positively robust

Letter to the editor: To left, freedom means absence of morality

Letter to the editor: Padilla's not above the law

Letter to the editor: Jew haters, pure and simple

Government has unfinished business on college reform

AMANDA PLATELL: It's not MY fault you're fat... so why should I pay for it?

Trump must stand firm with Israel to slam the door on Iran’s nukes — and achieve Middle East peace

A power for good?

BORIS JOHNSON: The bombers Ukraine destroyed with their brilliantly audacious Operation Spiderweb helped Putin blow up babies in their cots. So why hasn't Labour issued one word of celebration or congratulation?

Letters to the Editor: Harsh charges against protesters are meant to 'foment fear and anxiety'

Loyalist supremacy, hatred, racism and poverty: I know elements of Ulster riots well

Letters to the Editor: No one brought in the Marines to quell sporting event chaos, so why protests?

In Japan, education puts the emphasis on teamwork. Could Scotland follow suit?

Restricting ticket resale empowers fraudsters

Letters to the Editor: We cannot allow a U.S. senator to be handcuffed for asking questions