Parents in poverty still face an uphill struggle to find suitable care for their children, a new report suggests.
The lack of decent quality, affordable childcare with hours that correspond to available local jobs is still stopping parents finding employment or gaining new skills, according to research by the Daycare Trust.
Although there has been in increase in the number of registered childcare places, nearly all are in the private sector and are too expensive for many parents, especially those with several young children. The number of public and voluntary sector provided places has declined, and the typical cost of a nursery place for a child under two is now £128 a week.
The government has responded by introducing the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit, but the average award is less than £50 a week and all parents have to pay at least 30 per cent of the cost of each place.
The government has also created new child care places in the 20 per cent most deprived areas through initiatives such as Neighbourhood Nurseries, Sure Start and Children’s Centres. But 46 per cent of children living in poor households do not live in the neighbourhoods where these initiatives are targeted so are not benefiting from the places.
Even those families living in the targeted 20 per cent of areas are not guaranteed childcare places, the report points out. For example there are only 80,000 Sure Start places – just one for every 11 children living in Sure Start areas.
All three and four year olds are now entitled to a free part time nursery place, but these are typically for 2½ hours a day, and sometime for only three days a week. Such restricted hours are unlikely to offer parents’ the time to earn enough money to lift their children out of poverty.
The Daycare Trust argues that the government’s welfare to work and anti-poverty strategies are being put at risk because of the lack of affordable, suitable childcare for disadvantaged families.
'Facing the Childcare Challenge: is the national strategy reaching all parents are children?' £5 from the Daycare Trust, 21 St George’s Road, London SE1 6ES
