EXCERPTS
A universal state-funded childcare service delivered through children's centres is set to be one of the themes of a major report into the condition of Britain to be published this week by centre-left thinktank the IPPR.
Such a move would be seen as a way of cementing Labour's commitment to the family. The study is being closely followed by Jon Cruddas, the head of the Labour policy review and one of the staunchest advocates of the left's duty to the family as the bedrock of society.
The report will assert Britain is not broken as David Cameron once claimed, but warns family life and structures are under a new pressure from economic turmoil, fragile social bonds and a state that hasn't caught up with its changing needs.
Cruddas is also sympathetic to the IPPR emphasis on a decentralised state, a theme that is likely to emerge in an industrial review for Labour being conducted by Lord Adonis.
The IPPR report, which will argue prioritising universal childcare, rather than expanding tax credits and benefits, would represent Labour's shift to the family.
This commitment would be advanced through community institutions, such as children's centres, that bring children and parents together, rather than "resting on redistributing income through individual cash benefits, or vouchers". Such cash transfers do not get to the root of family problems, the report will argue. The interim IPPR report, due on Thursday, is designed to give a portrait of Britain under stress.
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- reprinted from the Guardian