Every Uber driver in the UK will be eligible for 20 hours of free childcare under a new scheme intended to get more women driving taxis. They will be able to use the allowance through a nannying and babysitting app for the rest of 2025. “We really, really would like to attract more female drivers onto the Uber platform,” said Uber UK General Manager Andrew Brem. But the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents drivers, said “anyone can see through” what it called a “cynical PR stunt”. If Uber really wanted to support families, they would pay drivers enough money so that they could afford time off to be with their children, it told the BBC in a statement. Instead, Uber’s insultingly low fees force drivers to spend so long on the roads that in many cases relationships rupture and families are broken up. Uber said it trialled free childcare with 1,000 drivers and had an overwhelmingly positive response – with 96% of those who took part saying it made it easier to take on work. Now, the scheme will be extended to the more than 100,000 Uber drivers in the UK. Like some other occupations, [Uber driving] happens to be predominantly male – that’s not something that we’d like, Mr Brem told BBC News. He expects the free childcare to initially be used by existing drivers rather than new ones, “but it’s more, I think, to get drivers into the habit of doing this.” He adds: “By testing it at no cost, you have the experience, and you see the ease of getting childcare through this particular route.”
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