Gordon Brown has promised more cash to extend the provision of childcare and maternity leave.

In his pre-Budget report on Thursday the chancellor announced mothers would be able to take nine paid months off work from April 2007.

And on top of this £285 million annual commitment, Brown said he was setting a goal of one year's full maternity pay.

He claimed a mother of a first child would get £5,000 more in real terms in maternity pay and child benefit in 2007 than she did when Labour came to power.

Brown told MPs that the Department of Trade and Industry would also consult on allowing fathers to take some of this time and extending the right to ask for flexible working hours.

"Family is the bedrock of society," he said. "It is in the national interest to help parents meet their responsibilities."

Childcare

Once parents have gone back to work, the government will also give them more money to pay for "high quality" childcare.

The chancellor announced his childcare tax credit would become more generous, covering up to 80 per cent of costs for the poorest families and being paid to more parents up the income scale.

Free nursery care will also be extended from its current level of 15 hours per week for 38 weeks for three and four-year-olds.

Brown said by 2010 there will be 3,500 children's centres in England alone, five for every parliamentary constituency, and one million more childcare places than in 1997.

He also set aside new cash to subsidise out-of-school care to deliver on the education secretary's target of "wraparound" schools open from 8.00am to 6.00pm.

And children themselves could get an extra £250 (£500 for those from the poorest families) for their parents to invest in their new child trust funds at the age of seven.

Reaction

Unions immediately welcomed the moves.

"Today's childcare package is a big advance for working parents - it adds up to a significant extension of the welfare state," TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said.

But business groups said change should take place slowly.

"The constructive relationship between government and business on this issue could come under serious strain if ministers move too far too quickly," CBI director general Digby Jones said.

"Having both parents share parental leave sounds fine in principle but who is going to police the system? Employers should not be responsible for finding out how much time each parent is entitled to. It is not fair for business to be blamed for intruding into people's private lives.

"We will also press for more help with costs, which currently cover most of the pay but do not cover administration, training or replacement. It is wrong for business to bear this burden."