Beyond Scotland: what does childcare look like elsewhere? Dec 17: Over the past year, the Scottish Women’s Budget Group has been exploring different aspects of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) policy in Scotland: from affordability to flexibility (or lack thereof) of services, to the economic impact of investing in childcare (both in the short and long term). While these webinars have touched on some international examples of best practice, the last event of the series sought to address a question left untouched: what does childcare look like elsewhere? The webinar heard from speakers from Canada, France and Estonia.

Reflecting on the Scottish Draft Budget 2025-2026 Dec 5: While it’ll take some time to go through all the budget documentation, including equality impact assessments, and delve into the detail of the Equality and Fairer Scotland Statement, our first take on the budget is that it offers glimmers of hope for women who are feeling the crunch of years of rising prices. Yet more still needs to be done to invest in care and raise further revenue to support public services. 

Responding to news of the delay of stage 2 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill Nov 14: The delay announced by the Minister for Social Care may not come as a surprise to anyone. The process for developing the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill has lost sight of the vision shared by those who use care services and carers in the development of the Independent Review on Adult Social Care.  

Edinburgh Integration Joint Board Grants Programme Nov 1: Heather Williams, Training Lead at the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, discusses the latest proposals made by Edinburgh Integration Joint Board on their Grants Programme