Economists welcome the design — money follows the worker, not the employer — but warn the rollout will be judged on nursery places, not press releases.
What we know
Reporters spoke to officials, operators and analysts directly involved, and reviewed documents published this week. Figures quoted in this piece are the most recent available and will be updated as new data lands.
We are not forecasting a boom — we are saying the risk of a hard landing has fallen, which is a different and more useful sentence.
What happens next
Analysts will watch next month's labour numbers and the next inflation print for confirmation. Until then, treat the move as a repricing rather than a new trend.
