The nanny state still thinks it can raise kids better than their parents
Kick-starting in the early 2000s, Sure Start was sold as government support for needy families – childcare services targeting those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. During its heyday, it did provide families across the country with places to bring their babies that were full of toys and other children to play with. But there's no such thing as a free lunch. Sure Start's catch was big – families weren't simply being offered free resources that they wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford. Instead, the programme was a social-engineering experiment, attempting to remove the influence of working-class parents and instead socialise children via 'expert' intervention from the state.
Back in 2005, 18 months after Labour's flagship programme had begun, a government-funded study found that Sure Start was having no success in improving the development of children in deprived areas. In response to the findings, Polly Toynbee wrote a defence of the programme in The Guardian, in which she told parents to 'take a deep breath', as the one change the study had picked up was that Sure Start mothers were engaging in 'warmer parenting'. What did this mean? Middle-class readers could breathe a sigh of relief, as the council-estate mums who had been re-educated at these children's centres were showing signs of 'less hostility, less smacking, less negative criticism and more affection'. The Blair administration's approach to the working class was always paternalistic, but Sure Start took patronising state intervention to insulting levels.
Fast forward 20 years, and the current Labour Government seems to want to pick up where Blair left off. Starmer won't give poorer parents any help when it comes to the two-child benefit cap, but he has been excited to announce a national programme of toothbrushing in schools and nurseries, to monitor the dental hygiene of the great unwashed. Let them eat Colgate. While the Left used to understand the importance of a working class independent from the state, many now believe government busybodies know how to raise children better than their parents.
Rather than being a helpful resource, the era of 'parenting experts' has trashed any sense of parental authority. I've seen this in real life – mothers attending weaning classes at our local children's centre, anxiously making notes on how many centimetres long the cucumber stick should be when given to a six-month-old. There's no shame in asking for help when it comes to raising kids, but parents today have lost all confidence in common sense, or that they might be able to figure things out for themselves. The more the Government wags its finger at us, the less we feel able to trust our gut.
I'm all for government intervention when it comes to cold hard cash. Hackney council, where I live, has recently raised its nursery fees through the roof. Many families will no longer be able to afford to put their children in childcare – even with the free hours – which might well scupper the Government's promise to grow the economy. Opening up more centres and employing more staff is something every parent would welcome. But not if it means surrendering our families to the scrutiny and intervention of the nanny state. Leave the kids – and the parents – alone.
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