Business
‘I left Wales and moved to England for free childcare’
Bethan LewisEducation & family correspondent, BBC Wales News
Robin LloydFrom her Monmouthshire home, Robin Lloyd was able to see houses over the border in England knowing the families who lived there could access free childcare for their babies.
Robin and her husband decided to leave Chepstow and Wales and moved a 30-minute drive away to Gloucestershire so they would be eligible for support for children from nine months old.
In Wales, free childcare for two-year-olds is being expanded, prioritising disadvantaged areas but there is no support for younger children.
The Welsh government said its childcare programmes were “sustainable” and prioritising “more disadvantaged communities”.
Robin, a 35-year-old nurse, started thinking about childcare during her pregnancy.
“I realised that I would be paying almost double my mortgage each month in childcare in Wales but I could see England out of my window and the people in the houses over there would be having financial support,” she said.
“I knew I wanted more than one child but the cost of childcare was going to mean that it wasn’t going to be possible until my son was pretty much four years old.
“We were very cautious about the whole process but eventually decided that the way to afford a family of two children was to move to England.”
The move to the Forest of Dean cost £15,000 in solicitors’ fees and stamp duty “but overall was going to be a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to pay childcare in Wales”.
‘Really sad about it’
Since 1 September, working parents in England have been offered 30 hours of childcare a week during term time for children aged nine months to four years old.
There have been concerns about the availability of places and the cost of extra, unfunded hours.
But Robin said she had been able to get two days of funded childcare a week for her one-year-old, while she and her husband work part-time.
“That makes it far more affordable for somebody like me who’s just a nurse,” she said.
“I don’t have megabucks to be able to afford a home for my family and to have childcare.
“I’m really sad about it. I’ve left my home. But ultimately, if it means I can have the family, it’s worth it.”
In Wales, there is currently no childcare funding for children under two.
However the Welsh government is rolling out 12.5 hours of free care a week for all two to three-year-olds under the Flying Start scheme.
It said it had reached 15,901children through the scheme by the end of 2024-25 – roughly 52% of two-year-olds in Wales.
The next phase of expansion in 2025-26, funded by an extra £25m, is expected to “reach more than 4,000 additional children”, it said.
The Flying Start scheme is being extended by postcode, focusing on the most deprived areas first.
Merthyr Tydfil has become the first county in Wales to offer a place to all two-year-olds under the programme.
It covered a place every afternoon at Little Rascals nursery in Merthyr for Grace’s daughter, which she describes as “invaluable”.
She thinks it is important that all parents of young children, not just those who are working, are eligible for the support, meaning there is a “level playing field”.
‘Swathes don’t benefit’
“It’s so beneficial to have this programme for Merthyr, for everyone living here to have the opportunity for their children to go into childcare at such a young age without any stress about fees,” she said.
On the same site, Ana’s son goes to the forest school, where the children spend most of the day learning outside.
Their postcode was the last in Merthyr to become eligible for Flying Start childcare support in April.
“It’s such a shame that there are swathes of our country that don’t benefit from that,” she said.
“You just have to set foot inside one of these nurseries to find out how children love being around each other and learning from each other.”
In Merthyr, council bosses said “100% of early years providers” were able to offer Flying Start places, with capacity for all two-year-olds in county.
“This has been achieved over a considerable period of time, ensuring that we’ve got enough childcare places and that’s really important in all of this – making sure that whatever we commit to we’ve got enough childcare places,” said Sarah Ostler, the early years and Flying Start manager for Merthyr Tydfil council.
She said they had used Welsh government funding to extend the provision and had made sure there was “a suitably-qualified and experienced workforce”.
But in Monmouthshire, a councillor said parents were acutely aware of the different offer over the border in England.
Conservative county councillor Lisa Dymock said a number of people had moved to the area from Bristol with many under the impression they would be offered the same childcare offer as in England.
“Whilst they may have settled and live in a lovely location like south-east Monmouthshire, they’ve now realised [they’re] not entitled to this free childcare and they’re having to re-examine their budgets and their outgoings, which is hard for a young family,” she said.
‘Making a real difference’
Ms Dymock said that while Flying Start was “a very good scheme” it did not help women who needed to return to work and she wanted the English offer matched in Wales.
“I think that will help the household income, residents’ careers but also children’s development,” she said.
“I just think it’s a huge benefit and it’s what my residents are asking for – it’s what people want.”
The Welsh government said its childcare programmes were “making a real difference for families across Wales”.
It said the flying Start programme was now being extended two all two-year-olds.
“We’ve prioritised our more disadvantaged communities and made sure provision is sustainable”, a spokesperson said.
They said the Childcare Offer for Wales, providing up to 30 hours per week of care for three and four-year-olds, was more generous than England’s scheme.
“Unlike in England, it is available to parents in training and education as well as those in work and is available 48 weeks per year, compared to England’s 38 weeks.”
What are the political parties’ childcare promises?
In its autumn conference, Plaid Cymru announced it would offer at least 20 hours’ free childcare for 48 weeks a year to all children nine months to four years old by 2031.
The current offer of 30 hours for some three and four-year-olds would continue.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats said it would introduce 30 hours per week of childcare for children from nine months to school age and invest in school holiday provision.
The Welsh Conservatives said it would replicate the childcare offer in England of 30 hours a week for working parents of nine month to four-years-olds during term time.
It said there would be more details in its manifesto for the Senedd election.
Welsh Labour said it was “proud” to roll out free childcare for two-year-olds, providing a tax break for nurseries and expanding subsidised childcare for three and four-year-olds.
It is still discussing the offer for 2026 and beyond, the party said.
Reform UK said it was putting together a manifesto to “deliver the real change Wales needs”.
Business
CPSE dividend milestone: HLL Lifecare pays record Rs 69.53 crore to government; revenue rises 20% – The Times of India
Mini-Ratna CPSE HLL Lifecare Limited has paid a record dividend of Rs 69.53 crore to the Government of India for the financial year 2024-25, highlighting its strong financial performance. The dividend cheque was presented to Union health minister JP Nadda by Dr Anitha Thampi, chairperson of HLL, in the presence of minister of state Anupriya Patel and Union health secretary Punya Salila Srivastava.The financial year 2024-25 saw comprehensive growth across both HLL’s manufacturing and service portfolios.Revenue from operations rose to Rs 4,500 crore, a 20 per cent increase over the previous year, while the company’s net worth increased to Rs 1,100 crore as of March 31, 2025, according to news agency ANI. On a consolidated basis, including subsidiaries HITES, GAPL, and Lifespring Hospitals, the HLL Group recorded total revenue of Rs 4,900 crore, marking a 19 per cent growth over the previous fiscal.Founded on March 1, 1966, HLL Lifecare has evolved from addressing population control challenges to becoming a multi-product, multi-service healthcare enterprise playing a pivotal role in India’s health sector transformation. The company has also strengthened affordable access to medicines and surgical products through initiatives like AMRIT Pharmacies, helping reduce out-of-pocket expenses for patients nationwide.Nadda commended HLL’s performance, stating, “HLL, along with its subsidiaries and Amrit pharmacies, have emerged as a key player in transforming the health sector. Over the last 10 years, more than 6.7 crore people have benefited from affordable medicines, saving over Rs 8,000 crore in out-of-pocket expenditure”.
BBCThousands of people have marched through central Edinburgh calling for more action to tackle poverty in Scotland.
The Scotland Demands Better demonstration was organised by trade unions and charities to push for more action on poverty ahead of the UK Budget and next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.
The demonstration was organised by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and The Poverty Alliance. They called for increases in free childcare and the scrapping the two child benefit cap.
The march comes after recent research from The Poverty Alliance found one in four children in Scotland is living in poverty.
The protestors included trade union members, faith groups and community organisations. They made their way from the Scottish Parliament to the Meadows where they held a rally.
Organisers said the demonstration was part of a “growing nationwide campaign” to demand better jobs and social security.
They also want to see more investment in “life essentials” such as as housing, transport, healthcare and education.
Peter Kelly, chief executive of The Poverty Alliance said the march was a response to challenges being felt by people in Scotland.
“Too many of us are going hungry, or are without a home, or sacrificing meals to feed their children, dreading winter due to heating costs, or struggling to get by on wages that don’t cover their household costs,” he said.
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said people are calling for real action to tackle poverty, and electioneering on the issue must stop.
She said: “People are exhausted with the false promises of change that come every time an election rolls around only to be badly let down time and time again.”
Members of the Unite union waved flags calling for the Grangemouth refinery to be saved.
Unite Secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “Scotland is losing highly skilled jobs, decent affordable housing remains out of reach and public services remain underfunded and overstretched. Wages and living standards just aren’t keeping up.”
The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 set targets to cut child poverty to 18% by 2024/25 and 10% by 2030/31.
Earlier this month, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that these targets were set to be missed by a “large margin”.
Child poverty in Scotland is lower than any other part of the UK and the only poverty rate which is falling, but the Scottish government missed its statutory interim target to reduce the rate below 18% by last year, with the figure left at 23%.
Before the march, First Minister John Swinney offered his “best wishes” to those taking part.
He added: “Of course those marching today are right that too many people are living in poverty and too many people – many of them in work – are struggling to make ends meet.
“In a country as rich as Scotland, that is simply not acceptable to me.”
A UK government spokesperson said ministers are “determined to bring down poverty and have implemented measures such as increasing the national minimum wage and introducing universal credit changes.”
A strategy to tackle child poverty will be published later this year.
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
More than a third of the condo apartments sold in Manhattan over roughly the past year sold at a loss, although the top end of the market fared better, according to a new report.
Despite the steady stream of headlines about eye-popping sales and soaring prices in Manhattan real estate, the median price per square foot for Manhattan condos is essentially flat from a decade ago, according to a report from Brown Harris Stevens. One in three condo resales between July 2024 and June 2025 were sold at a loss, according to the report. When including inflation, transaction costs and renovations, the share of losses by condo sellers is likely even higher, according to real estate analysts.
While the data didn’t include co-ops, analysts say co-op prices have generally fared the same or slightly worse than condos.
“For the last decade, Manhattan has essentially been moving sideways,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, the appraisal and real estate research firm.
The long-term price weakness in Manhattan stands in stark contrast to much of the country, where home prices are up substantially since the pandemic, creating a widespread affordability crisis. Only 2% of home sellers nationally who purchased homes before the pandemic are at risk of selling at a loss, according to Redfin.
Manhattan is still among the most expensive markets in the country, especially on a per-square-foot basis. The median price for Manhattan sales in the third quarter was $1.2 million, while the average is just under $2 million, according to Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman. Yet over the longer term, an analysis of resales finds that the timing of purchases in Manhattan typically matters more than location.
Condo owners who bought before 2010 have fared the best. The median gains for those in that cohort who sold over roughly the past year were between 29% and 45%, according to the Brown Harris report. Prices started to rise after the financial crisis, peaking in 2016. That means for those who bought between 2011 and 2015, the sale gains in the past year were modest, around 11%.
The biggest losers were those who bought after 2016. Half of the buyers who bought between 2016 and 2020 sold at a loss over the surveyed period. Among those who bought between 2021 and 2024, the gains were slim – although some buyers who got deals during the depths of the Covid downturn in late 2020 and early 2021 may fare better.
Adding in other costs of buying, selling and ownership would further add to the losses. Transaction costs in Manhattan can range from 6% to 10%, according to brokers. Renovations and improvements also aren’t counted in the losses, nor are maintenance fees or taxes. Adjusting for inflation would also increase the losses and lower returns.
Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, co-director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, said inflation has increased 36% over the past decade.
“So if I had invested in a Manhattan condo in September 2015 (close to the peak) and sold it in August 2025 for the same nominal price, a 0% nominal return, I actually lost 36% in real terms,” he said. “This is surprising since many people think of real estate as a good inflation hedge.”
He noted that the Case-Shiller national home price index went up 89% in the 10 years between September 2015 and August 2025, “a lot better than in NYC and also far higher than the 36% inflation.”
The reasons for Manhattan’s “lost decade” in condo prices are as varied as they are disputed. The cap on state and local tax deductions that began in 2018 put pressure on prices and demand, as did a 2019 rent law. The migration of some higher earners to Florida during Covid also added to real estate fears, although the population and demand quickly rebounded.
The one exception to the trend was the top of the market. Those who bought and sold apartments for $10 million or more made double-digit profits, no matter when they initially bought.
Brokers and analysts say the increased concentration of wealth at the top, rising stock markets and ceaseless demand from those who are less affected by economic and market cycles has powered continued gains in the luxury market.
“The higher end has fared better over the decade, especially in, let’s say, the top 4% of the market,” Miller said. “The reason is Wall Street and financial markets. And the ability to buy in cash, independent of interest rates.”
Two thirds of the apartment deals done in the third quarter were done in cash, Miller said, far above the historical average of around 53% and showing the continued dependence of the Manhattan market on wealthy buyers who don’t need mortgages.
In a market defined by frequent ups and downs, brokers say the current upswing presents an opportunity for both buyers and sellers.
“I’m bullish and have a very positive outlook for New York real estate,” said Jared Antin, executive director at Brown Harris Stevens and a co-author of the report. “While some people may have lost money on the deals [over the decade], the losses were negligible. It speaks to the blue chip nature of the Manhattan market. Does everyone want to make money on their real estate? Of course. But this market is incredibly stable.”
Sellers who bought during the dip in 2020 and early 2021 could also see profits when they start to sell, Antin said.
Still, with median prices hovering near all-time highs and uncertainty around the upcoming mayoral election, many potential buyers prefer to stay on the sidelines and rent, even if they can afford to buy. The number of households in New York City making more than $1 million a year who are renting more than doubled between 2019 and 2023, to 5,661, according to a report from RentCafe.
What’s more, signed contracts for high-end apartments — priced at $4 million or more — fell 39% in September, according to Olshan Realty, following increases in August and July. Brokers blame a rapid decline in inventory and lack of new supply from condo developments rather than a decline in demand or fears that Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, would become the next mayor of New York City.
“There certainly is a downside risk to policy,” Miller said. “But as we’ve seen in the past, those fears are usually overblown.”
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