The Cost of the Nursery Day project was a collaboration between Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership and Glasgow City Council Early Learning and Childcare to identify poverty-related barriers to learning and participation in nurseries, and to develop practical ways to overcome them. The project was delivered in 2019 and complements Child Poverty Action Group's Cost of the School Day project.

The project engaged with parents and carers to understand their lived experience of how Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) policies and practices can affect low income households, and with ELC staff to explore the role of the nursery in mitigating the effects of poverty on families. Generally speaking, parents valued the support provided by nurseries but they had a limited understanding of the powers available to them to help mitigate family financial costs. The project report recommends potential modifications in Early Learning and Childcare policies and practices to help reduce financial burdens on families.

Read the blog by Douglas O'Malley, Health Improvement Lead, Glasgow City HSCP and the full report.