In this report, we set out plans for moving towards a universal, high-quality and affordable system of childcare and early-years provision in the UK. Such a system, combined with reforms to parental leave and greater rights to flexible employment, can best enable us to meet these three core objectives of public policy for the early years: higher employment rates for parents, particularly mothers; reductions in early childhood inequalities; greater gender equality. There are, of course, trade-offs between these objectives. Low-quality but affordable childcare can promote parental employment, but to the detriment of children - particularly the very youngest - if they are to spend long hours each week in care settings. Similarly, early learning entitlements can be provided in ways that enhance child development but which are very difficult to combine with parents' working lives. Consequently, as we expand and reform childcare and early-years provision, we need to be clear about these trade-offs and tensions in policy, and how they can best be resolved given the resources available. This report is the final output from our 'Childcare: A strategic national priority?' project. It follows two earlier reports: Early Developments: Bridging the gap between evidence and policy in early-years education (Parker 2013a), which set out policy lessons from an examination of the early-years literature; and Childmind the gap: Reforming childcare to support mothers into work (Thompson and Ben-Galim 2014), which explored the factors that determine rates of maternal employment in the UK, and particularly the pivotal role that affordable, accessible childcare plays in supporting mothers to work. This report focuses primarily on pre-school childcare and early learning. Childcare for children of school age is also very important, but the questions that it raises for policy are substantively different to those posed by the early years, where the need for extending and improving provision is greatest. Similarly, this report does not advance comprehensive policy solutions to for the needs of families who work atypical hours, or who have children with complex or special needs. However, we believe that the framework of childcare provision we advocate here provides a robust platform from which those additional needs can be addressed. (author abstract)