The death of eight month old Matthew Eappen, while being looked after by a British nanny Louise Woodward has motivated the public to focus on the importance of childcare. While parents work, they leave their children at home with nannies who, as statistics prove are most of the time inexperienced. This is because parents are unable to pay the high costs of "quality- childcare. Therefore, the Government of UK should provide childcare benefits to working parents. This issue of providing childcare benefits has been the subject of argumentation in the UK for sometime now, especially since there is an increasing social and financial pressure for parents to work. According to some, providing childcare benefits would have negative effects on society and children. On the other hand, some argue that providing childcare benefits can have positive outcomes. Although providing childcare benefits can cause certain disadvantages, it is important for the government of UK to provide childcare benefits to working parents because firstly, "quality- childcare is expensive, secondly, it increases business benefits and moreover, children gain academic advantages from this type of preschooling.
Childcare is also popularly known as day-care. People hold different views about childcare. In its simplest terms, childcare means "babysitting, parenting [and] educating" (Moore 21). A more detailed description is provided in the publication : Childcare in the European communities 1885 - 1990. Childcare here is defined as " the work and responsibility involved in caring for children and meeting their full range of needs, and how that work and responsibility is organised and divided- (2). The concept of day care began in Europe in the early 19th century ("Pre-school- 1). Then during the Second World War (1939 - 1945), there was an enormous rise in the number of childcare facilities that were offered in the UK.