Let’s spend MORE money on parenting classes and parenting support and parenting guidance!

David Cameron has been talking about the Can Parent scheme, whose pilot was launched in October last year and that gives parents of children under five a £100 voucher to use on parenting classes, responding to criticisms of its nanny state nature. There are lots of posts springing up all over the place, and comments in newspapers, many of which say that parenting classes are a waste of money and we should be concentrating on getting the economy in a better state, or spending money on schools and hospitals and so on.

£5 million on parenting classes?

One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen is that we shouldn’t be spending such a huge amount of money as £5 million on parenting classes? Sorry, but £5 million is a tiny amount of money. Of course, it sounds like a lot if you think about it in terms of your household income, but it’s miniscule in terms of running a country. In fact, the £5 million is just for the pilot of the scheme. If it were run out to the whole country, it would actually cots £320 million [3.2 million children aged under five – source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/feb/26/population-ethnic-race-age-statistics]. The total estimated budget for the whole country next year is £539.8 billion (of which, incidentally, education is a miniscule £28.6 billion in that). So £5 million is pretty much nothing. £300 million is more insignificant, of course.

Another figure that’s significant is £200 million – this is how much the government took away from SureStart centres [Source: http://www2.labour.org.uk/join-with-labour-to-save-our-sure-start]. One of the services that SureStart centres provide is parenting classes. They also provide a fantastic support service for all families, but particularly for families who are struggling – families in poverty, deprived families, families with special needs.

More money on parenting classes, please!

So, I’m not complaining about this ‘huge amount’ of money being spent on this small pilot. I’m complaining that the small, but incredibly important, £200 million was taken away from SureStart centres. I want more money for SureStart centres – let’s give them that whole £300,000 for a start and improve their services, rather than cut their budgets so they have to prioritise who gets help and support and who doesn’t. And then let’s give them more on top of that. Let’s turn the already brilliant SureStart centres into something that the rest of the world will envy. Let’s give them more staff. Let’s give them more resources. Let’s give them more publicity. Let’s make them the go-to place for any parent who wants help, support, advice, good pre-school education, and yes parenting classes, too.

Parenting classes are useful

Parenting classes are good, but not everyone needs them, as others have pointed out, and not everyone would take up the vouchers. Some people have a support network of family and friends, others know where to get information on the internet – from parenting websites, or even blogs – and others use books – bought or borrowed from the library. But there are people – not just poor people – who would benefit from parenting classes and would like to know about them and have the opportunity to attend. (Most SureStart centres provide child care for children whose parents are attending a parenting class, for example – do the other providers?) Parenting classes can help with common challenges, such as sleep, nutrition, behaviour and school choice, as well as provide general support and guidance with other things, such as how to help children with bereavement or strategies to help when you are a lone parent or young parent.

Invest in SureStart

Investing more in SureStart centres, that can provide a wide range of parenting classes, support and guidance, is much more important and useful than providing vouchers for a scheme that narrows down the classes to specific topics and a specific number of hours.

Other articles and blog posts about the parenting classes issue

David Cameron denies parenting classes ‘nanny state’ (BBC)

David Cameron’s family policy: meet the parents (Guardian)

I vote “YES” for Parenting Classes (Nickie from Typecast likes the idea of parenting classes)

One Way Voucher Please (Natasha at The 1970s Diet talks about other cuts that affect children and families – £250 child trust fund voucher for every child; huge cuts to libraries and the SureStart centre cuts, too)

Parenting classes – what do you think of them? (Deb at Aspie in the family talks about the other things families need before parenting classes)

Mr Cameron, what parents need is more money in their pockets (Liz Jarvis at The Mum Blog says parents need more money)

£5million on Parenting Lessons???? Such a waste of money (Emma at emma4oacs also points to SureStart centres)

What do you think? Are parenting classes a good thing in general? Do you think this scheme sounds good are the money should be invested in SureStart centres? Or do you think the whole idea of parenting classes is a waste of money?

[Note about data and sources – I’ve linked to the places where I found information. I struggled to find good and up-to-date information about government policies, so it’s possible that there is more up-to-date information or data that I have not found. I would be happy to be pointed in the direction of any, whether it supports or contradicts my conclusions.]