Free care for toddlers
Updated on 20 September 2008
Every two-year-old would get a free nursery place under plans for a major expansion of childcare announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Up to 600,000 youngsters could benefit every year as the Government seeks to build on existing provision for three and four-year-olds.
The move, revealed in an interview with a Sunday paper, could cost in excess of £1 billion.
Mr Brown said: "I think more choice for women and for families is one of themes of the next stage of our policy reforms.
"What I want us to do is to create thousands more nursery places, not just for three and four-year-olds but also for two-year-olds."
He added: "This is not a Government that walks away but a Government that's on the side of hard-working families, helping them to climb the ladder."
The plans go further than an already-announced scheme to help 20,000 low income parents with two-year-olds.
They will feature in Mr Brown's make-or-break speech to the Labour Party conference in Manchester on Tuesday, when he will promise a "new wave of social mobility - upward mobility - people being able to do better than their parents".
At present, parents get up to 15 hours of free childcare a week when their children are three and four.
Ministers believe that exposure to learning environments at an earlier age will boost achievements at primary school.
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