Childcare

The National Childcare Strategy was launched in 1998, and alongside the Sure Start programme it aims to deliver quality, affordable and accessible childcare in every neighbourhood. Initiatives have included:

 The provision of a free part-time nursery education place for all 3 and 4 year olds;
 Creating new childcare places for 1.6 million children;
 Establishing 100 early excellence centres;
 Establishing 900 neighbourhood nurseries in disadvantaged areas;
 Ensuring that 500 Sure Start programmes will reach up to one third of young children in poverty and their families;
 The introduction of financial childcare support through tax credits for low income families in work;
 The transfer of childcare regulation and inspection to Ofsted

The Government’s strategies for moving families from welfare to work and end child poverty are proving to be an undoubted success that rarely receives the recognition the Government deserves. Having said that, the demand for childcare continues to outstrip supply. Research by the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) reported that a quarter of all families (approximately 1.3 million) had reported not being able to find a childcare place when they needed it. Lone parents in particular cite the lack of childcare as a detrimental issue when determining their ability to take up paid work.

Childcare costs also continue to rise at a rate well above inflation. The Daycare trust reported childcare costs as having risen by 6.7% in 2003 with a 16% rise in the cost of summer holiday childcare. Since 1999 there has been an increase in the financial support available to parents on lower incomes, initially through the childcare tax credit element of the Working Families’ Tax Credit and more recently through the childcare component of the Working Tax Credit (WTC).

Recent figures from the Inland Revenue indicate that there are 264,400 families in receipt of the childcare element of the WTC with the average award being increased from £40.61 a week in 2002 to £49.61 a week in July 2003, a rise of 22%. The maximum available is £94.50 a week for childcare costs up to £135 for one child or £140 a week for childcare costs of £200 or more.

Access to childcare in the UK is clearly related to the ability of families to pay for the services. Many parents, particularly those living in poverty, find childcare extremely expensive, some simply cannot afford it. Nationally the typical cost of a nursery place for a child under two is, according to the Daycare Trust, £128 a week, more than £6,650 a year. In London the typical cost of a nursery place is £168 a week or more than £8,730 a year with many parents paying significantly more. The current childcare element of the WTC, whilst welcome, is therefore limited in the help that it offers working parents.

The Government having made impressive strides in their attempts to deliver a better start in life for children, continues to face a huge challenge in delivering the resources necessary to make affordable high quality childcare available for all children and all families. Trade unions and employers also have a role to play in supporting childcare provision in the UK.

Why is childcare important?

Childcare is good for children, good for parents and families, and good for society.

Children

Quality pre-school education and care will:

 Provide an environment in which children flourish
 Support social development, including independence, concentration, co-operation and relationships with other children
 Secure cognitive development (abilities relating to perception, intuition and reasoning)
 Lay a foundation for effective learning, and affect ability to learn and the development of new skills throughout life
 Contribute to an increase in life time earnings and economic productivity
 Help equalise the cultural and cognitive stimulus children receive

Parents and Families

Accessible and affordable early years’ services will:

 Improve families’ quality of life
 Decrease problems arising from long periods out of work
 Increase lifetime earnings
 Allow people to make more sustained pensions contributions, promoting security in old age
 Help narrow the pay gap between men and women

Society

High quality universal childcare will:

 Demonstrate the value of children in our society
 Contribute to a more equal and just country
 Enable families to lift themselves out of poverty by raising household income
 Contribute to a well-educated and productive workforce
 Optimise employment levels, increase tax revenues and increase economic
 Help raise the status of our caring workforce
 Provide a lasting legacy, the missing pillar of our modern welfare state

TSSA Policy

The TSSA Executive Committee agreed to submit the following motion to the 2004 TUC Women’s Conference :

"Conference notes research by the DWP showing that proportionately fewer low-to-moderate income families use formal types of childcare compared with those on higher incomes. Conference is concerned that many parents, particularly those on low incomes, are required to accept whatever childcare they can afford regardless of whether or not it meets their own or their child’s needs.

"Conference is also alarmed at research by the Daycare Trust showing that ethnic minority communities are rarely consulted about childcare and subsequently use childcare services less than white families.

"Conference therefore calls for:

 centres to be developed in every community that will deliver affordable, quality childcare;
 childcare to be made more affordable by improving the childcare element of the working tax credit to reflect the real costs of childcare;
 new tax and national insurance incentives for employer supported childcare;
 action to ensure that childcare plans accurately reflect the needs and concerns of ethnic minority communities; and
 paid parental leave for parents to encourage greater take up."

What Can TSSA Reps Do?

TSSA will continue to work with the TUC to encourage Government to improve access to good quality childcare. TSSA negotiators can however raise the issue with their employers pointing out the benefits of quality childcare and encouraging them to assist those employees who have childcare needs by either supporting workplace childcare provision and, or where this is not feasible, by providing childcare vouchers.

Childcare Vouchers

Childcare vouchers are one of the ways in which employers can assist their employees with the costs of childcare. Childcare vouchers are exempt from National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for employees so they can help to save money with childcare fees.

How does a childcare voucher scheme work?

Your employer will need to sign up to a childcare voucher company and will pay that company an administration fee for their service. The voucher company will either supply the employee directly with their childcare vouchers or they will provide the employer with them to distribute to staff accordingly. Employees in receipt of childcare vouchers can use them to ‘pay’ their childcare provider and the childcare provider will then redeem the value of the voucher from the childcare voucher company, usually by direct payment into their bank account.

What sort of childcare can they be used to pay for?

Childcare vouchers can currently be used to pay for any legal form of childcare including:

Registered childcare

 Day Nurseries (private, community or local authority)
 Workplace nurseries
 Childminders
 Pre-school playgroups
 Nursery schools
 Out of school clubs and holiday clubs

Unregistered childcare

 Nannies
 Relatives (grandparents, uncles, aunts etc who are paid for childcare)

Some employers may place certain restrictions on the eligibility for childcare vouchers, for example only offering vouchers towards registered childcare or for parents with children under 5. From April 2005, childcare vouchers will only be valid for registered childcare costs and up to £50 per week will be exempt from both tax and NIC’s.

The childcare provider will need to register with the voucher company in order to reimburse the value of the vouchers they receive.

Some Facts & Figures about Childcare Provided by the Daycare Trust

Childcare Costs

 the typical cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two is £128 a week, more than £6,650 a year; up 6.7% in the last year.
 in some parts of the country, particularly London and the South East the cost of a nursery place is much higher - typically £168 a week in inner London or over £8730 a year. Many parents pay even more.
 the typical cost of a full-time place with a childminder for a child under two is £118 a week or nearly £6,200 a year.
 pre-school and playgroups cost £3 to £5 a session but you may be asked to pay for a block booking of around half a term in advance.
 the typical cost for an after school club is £34 for 15 hours a week.
 nannies cost anything from £150 to £400 a week, depending on whether they live in or out. Families are also responsible for paying their tax and national insurance.
 holiday clubs cost from £40 to £90 a week.
 private holiday play schemes cost around £150 a week.

Childcare and child poverty

 There is one childcare place for every seven children under the age of eight.
 4.3 million children (34%) in Britain live in poverty.
 There are 600,000 children under three living in poverty and only 42,740 free or subsidised places for disadvantaged families.
 There is only one subsidised childcare place for every fourteen children under three living in poverty.

Men and childcare

 Employment rates among men are highest when their children are under five.
 In 1981 dads with a partner in full-time employment spent an average of 17 hours a week with their children; by 1997 the equivalent group were putting in 23 hours of time with their children each week.
 A number of studies have shown men to be just as capable as women of caring for children.
 Men increasingly want to be a part of their children’s lives: 87% of men think it is best for a father to be “very involved in bringing the child up from an early age”
 95% of firms provide bereavement pay but just 65% offer paternity pay.
 A third of fathers spend more than 50 hours a week at work, compared with a quarter of childless men doing equivalent jobs. 8 out of 10 fathers complained that hectic work schedules created difficulties fulfilling family duties and household tasks, but felt forced into longer hours to provide for their children.
 In 36% of dual earner families it is the father who provides the majority of care for children.
 11% of lone parents are men (179,000).
 25% of young offenders are fathers.
 There is a clear association between a strong father-child relationship and the reduction of offending behaviour.
 In the mid 1970s fathers of children under 5 devoted less than quarter of an hour per day to child-related activities, compared with two hours a day by the late 1990s.

About Employers

 Only one in ten employers help their staff with childcare.
 5% of workplaces offer nursery places.
 5% of employers help towards childcare costs.
 Almost 40% of employees have dependent children.
 58% of women with a child under five work.
 78% of women with children aged 6-13 work outside the home.
 Three quarters of parents say that working parents cannot find enough childcare.
 45% of women work over 40 hours a week.
 30% of men work over 50 hours a week.
 61% of working families have parents who work shifts or work during early mornings, evenings, nights or weekends.

Further Information

Trades Union Congress - the equality/women’s issues section of the TUC web site at www.tuc.org.uk

Daycare Trust - the national childcare campaign’s web site contains lots of useful information for parents and negotiators at www.daycaretrust.org.uk