Russell Group backs GW4 campaign to improve childcare support for postgraduate students

18 July 2024

Today HEPI and the GW4 group of universities published a new report, Who cares? How postgraduate parents fall through the gap for government childcare grants, and how to fix it, highlighting the lack of support for postgraduate student parents. The GW4 universities, including Russell Group members Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, call on Government to eliminate the inequality in childcare that currently exists for postgraduate students, and extend support to these cohorts.

The report also included case studies from postgraduate students, showing how the lack of funding has impacted their professional and personal lives.

Supporting the recommendations of the report, a spokesperson for the Russell Group said today:

"We echo the calls from GW4 for the Government to extend the Childcare Grant to postgraduate students. Widening access for postgraduates, on both taught and research courses, is an often-overlooked area and the lack of childcare support is a glaring omission in the Government’s existing childcare support package. This creates a significant barrier to diversifying postgraduate study, disproportionately affecting women and those from low-income households.

"There are existing measures in place, namely the childcare grants available to undergraduates and the free-hours entitlement available to workers, that could be extended to postgraduate students who may otherwise be unable to pursue higher-level study, because of family commitments or financial pressures. This would be an effective step forward in eliminating inequalities in access to postgraduate study – ultimately improving the research talent pipeline and building a more diverse research workforce for the UK”.

Read the full report and learn more about the campaign on the GW4 website.