The first childcare invoice arrived, and for a moment I assumed there had been a mistake. Three days a week in nursery for our twins would cost my wife and me more than £1,700 a month. I looked at the figure again, expecting to find a misplaced decimal point or duplicated charge. There was neither. That was simply the cost of childcare for two children born at the same time.
That experience has led me to two conclusions. First, childcare policy should better recognise the unique financial pressures faced by parents of multiples. Twins and triplets create costs that arise entirely through chance rather than choice, yet the current system scarcely acknowledges that reality.
Second, Scotland needs a wider conversation about childcare itself. We should stop viewing it as day-to-day expenditure and start recognising it as long-term social and economic infrastructure. Investment in childcare is investment in children, in parents, in productivity and ultimately in Scotland’s future prosperity.
These two arguments are connected. Better targeted support today should sit within a broader vision for a childcare system that maximises economic participation and social wellbeing while remaining fiscally sustainable.
My family is fortunate. We both work. My wife’s employer has been flexible, and my mother lives nearby, generously caring for our twins one day each week whenever she can. Even so, childcare remains one of the largest financial pressures we face.
The burden, however, extended far beyond finances. When I returned to work after paternity leave, my wife remained at home with two newborns. Like many mothers of twins, she found herself trapped by the practical realities of caring for two infants simultaneously. Leaving the house became a military operation. Every outing carried the possibility of two hungry babies, two nappy changes or two inconsolable children at the same time.
The house became both sanctuary and prison. My wife is intelligent, sociable and independent, yet the demands of caring for twins inevitably narrowed her world. The physical exhaustion was obvious. Less obvious was the gradual social isolation that accompanies caring for two babies whose needs rarely align.
None of this diminishes the challenges faced by parents of singleton children, or families juggling children of different ages. Every family experiences disruption, exhaustion and anxiety. But parenting multiples brings an objectively different set of pressures that public policy should recognise.
High-quality childcare is social infrastructure. It provides children with opportunities to learn, socialise and develop communication skills before they enter school. If we genuinely believe the early years shape later educational outcomes, then childcare should be seen as part of our education system rather than merely a service enabling parents to work.
It also strengthens families. When our twins began nursery, it certainly enabled my wife to return to employment. But it also gave her something equally valuable: the opportunity to rediscover her identity beyond motherhood. She became herself again as well as Mum. That was good for her mental health, good for our family life and ultimately good for our children.
Childcare is also economic infrastructure. Investment in childcare unlocks labour market participation, particularly among women, who still shoulder the overwhelming share of caring responsibilities. It allows parents to remain attached to the workforce instead of stepping away during crucial years for career progression.
Those years matter. Your twenties and thirties are often when employees undertake further training, develop specialist expertise and secure promotion into senior positions. Interruptions during this period carry long-term consequences not only for household incomes but for the wider economy.
Scotland also faces the challenge of an ageing population. As demographic pressures grow, maintaining high rates of workforce participation becomes increasingly important. Childcare should therefore be understood as an investment that maximises the productive capacity of the working-age population.
Like transport infrastructure or higher education, its returns are measured over decades rather than budget cycles. If we accept that principle, then public investment should be targeted where it delivers the greatest benefit.
One such opportunity concerns parents of multiples. My proposal is straightforward. From the age of two, all children born as part of a multiple birth should automatically qualify for Scotland’s existing entitlement of 1,140 funded childcare hours.
This would provide meaningful financial assistance to families facing uniquely high childcare costs while remaining relatively simple to administer. Providers would not need to distinguish between one funded child and one unfunded child within the same family. Parents would not need to navigate unnecessary bureaucracy to establish which twin qualifies and which does not.
The policy would also be affordable. Multiple births account for a very small proportion of all births in Scotland, meaning the additional cost to government would be modest relative to the impact on affected families.
It is not, however, a complete solution. Parents would still face significant childcare costs between the end of maternity leave and the age of two. Even after funded hours begin, many families would continue to pay substantial amounts for childcare beyond the 1,140-hour entitlement.
But policy rarely advances through perfect solutions. Aligning support for multiples with the existing two-year-old entitlement would create a practical and affordable foundation upon which future reforms could be built. It recognises fiscal constraints while taking a meaningful step towards greater fairness.
The larger challenge remains unanswered. Every political party at Holyrood now speaks enthusiastically about expanding childcare provision. Yet the debate focuses overwhelmingly on what should be provided rather than how it can be delivered sustainably.
That question deserves far greater attention. Scotland needs a serious inquiry into the future of childcare funding and provision, examining the issue through the lens of long-term social and economic investment rather than short-term expenditure.
Ideally, this would take the form of a joint inquiry by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Economy committees, bringing together economists, childcare providers, local authorities, academics and parents. If Parliament is unable to undertake such work, then the Scottish Government should commission an independent review.
The inquiry should not shy away from difficult questions. Is universal provision always the most effective approach, or should resources be more carefully targeted? What role should local authorities play in delivering childcare? How do staffing ratios in Scottish childcare settings compare with those elsewhere in Europe, and what effect do they have on cost and quality? How can Scotland expand provision while ensuring that public finances remain sustainable? Above all, how do we design a childcare system that maximises both economic participation and child development over the long term?
Those questions are too important to be answered through election slogans or annual budget negotiations.
My own proposal is modest. Parents of multiples should automatically receive 1,140 funded childcare hours for all children from the age of two, reflecting the unique financial pressures they face and placing equity at the heart of policy design.
But that reform should be only the beginning. The wider task is to build a childcare system that recognises investment where others see expenditure. Investment in children’s education. Investment in parents’ wellbeing. Investment in labour market participation. Investment in economic growth.
A society that understands childcare only as a cost will always struggle to afford it. A society that understands childcare as long-term social and economic infrastructure will recognise that, properly designed, it is one of the wisest investments it can make.
James Bundy is a Scottish Conservative Councillor and also leads a campaign on improving emergency stroke care in Scotland.