This briefing draws on an online participatory workshop (‘Devolved Conversation’) with 16 parents and carers – four from each UK country – alongside four Expert-by-Experience researchers, as part of the Safety Nets project. Using small breakout groups to enable participants to compare experiences across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (NI), the briefing explores how parents and carers experience childcare in the context of increasingly divergent childcare policies following devolution. It examines whether different policy approaches translate into different experiences of childcare.

The findings show that, despite important differences in childcare entitlements and funding models, families across the UK face many of the same barriers. Parents consistently described difficulties in finding clear information about childcare, securing suitable places, and accessing provision that met the realities of work, study, and family life. These challenges were particularly acute for parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), families living in rural areas, and those with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).

Participants highlighted that childcare shortages, limited funded hours, high costs, and a lack of wraparound and holiday provision often prevented them from entering, or remaining in, employment. While these challenges are well established in existing research, participants’ accounts reinforce their persistence and highlight how childcare constraints intersect with the demands of the social security system. Many participants also described tensions between childcare availability and Universal Credit (UC) work-related requirements, arguing that expectations to seek, or increase hours of, work frequently failed to reflect the practical constraints they faced.

Although participants had often been unaware that childcare entitlements differed across the UK before taking part in the discussions, most felt that access to high-quality childcare should be more equitable regardless of where families live. At the same time, they emphasised that greater consistency should be achieved by raising standards and support rather than reducing provision in areas where it is already more generous.

The briefing concludes that policy divergence alone has not resolved the structural challenges facing families. Across all four UK countries, participants identified common priorities for reform: improving information about childcare, increasing investment in the childcare workforce and capacity, expanding provision for children with SEND, extending wraparound and holiday childcare, reducing childcare costs, increasing funded hours, making childcare accessible before parents enter work, aligning UC conditionality with childcare availability, improving access for families with NRPF, and reducing inequalities in childcare provision across the UK. Together, these findings suggest that future childcare reforms should focus not only on expanding entitlements but also on ensuring that provision is affordable, accessible, inclusive, and responsive to families' everyday lives.

The findings provide an insight into how devolved childcare policies are experienced in practice. They demonstrate that comparative, lived-experience research can complement policy analysis by highlighting where implementation falls short and identifying priorities for future reform. As governments across the UK continue to develop childcare policy, ensuring that reforms respond to the realities of families' everyday experiences will be essential if childcare is to support children's development, enable parental employment, and reduce poverty and inequality.