News

The government launched its 10-year strategy for child care last month.

The focus of the strategy is choice, availability and flexibility for parents; key words in Labour’s other policies. It aims to legislate to give mothers’ 12 months paid maternity leave; access to children’s centres and the goal of 20 hours of free child care for three and four year olds and improve tax credits and benefits for child care.

Key to implementing this policy is the development of a trained workforce.

Child care workers are generally low paid – with wages around £5 an hour – often untrained and sometimes operate informally. Employers only have to ensure that half of their staff have NVQ two or above.

To achieve this the Department for Education and Skills and the Treasury will invest £126m from 2006 to train the workforce. It is envisaged that there will be a degree level qualification for child care workers – which is the case in Germany – and that graduates will lead staff in day centres.

Also the strategy wants a more diverse workforce that reflects the UK population such as more men and greater numbers from ethnic minorities – child care workers are overwhelmingly female (minimum of 86 per cent) and white (96 per cent).

The strategy has been well received by the voluntary sector and councils. But there are some concerns about competition for staff with other children’s services if child care workers are to become better qualified and paid. Also the time it will take to implement and train the workforce is considered to be longer than the 10-year strategy.

The government has set out its child care strategy as one of its main planks of its policy; for it to succeed the workforce must become better qualified and well paid.

• Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: a 10-Year Strategy for Childcare, HM Treasury, DfES, DTI, DWP, 2004