Is Targeting Formal Childcare the Best Way to Meet the Needs of Families in Britain?

The overall aim of this paper is to examine the types and combinations of childcare being used by parents in Britain, and to compare how this childcare usage may vary between families, in order to critically examine parental childcare needs. The three specific research questions were: 1) ‘What types and combinations of childcare are being used by families?’, 2) ‘What are the socio-demographic comparisons between families using and not using childcare?’ And 3) ‘How do types of childcare vary between families?. These questions were addressed by carrying out a secondary analysis of large-scale nationally representative datasets which provide information about patterns of childcare usage in the UK. Two main datasets were used: the Family Resources Survey and the Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents, with analysis carried out for the years 2008 to 2013. The analysis carried out comes from a wider study seeking to examine the provision and use of preschool childcare in Britain. The findings show that despite policies to increase the use of formal childcare, parents continue to be reliant on informal care, especially grandparents, to supplement their childcare needs. Furthermore, childcare use is not equally distributed, but is related to family circumstances. For example formal care is used more by employed, higher income families, whilst informal care is used more by mothers who are not employed, less well educated and by younger mothers. The results overall suggest that formal and informal childcare in combination will better support maternal employment. Future government policy needs to address supporting this mixed provision. The data however says nothing about parental childcare preferences which are needed to unpack the observed patterns of childcare usage in the UK

Is the ‘quality’ of preschool childcare, measured by the qualifications and pay of the childcare workforce, improving in Britain?

The purpose of this paper is to report on the changing qualifications, pay and working conditions of the British childcare workforce between 2005 and 2014. This is in order to contribute to current debates on the ‘quality’ of childcare provision for preschool children. The theoretical framework for this study draws upon concepts of 'quality' in childcare, to discuss the argued importance of increasing access to and raising standards of childcare for children’s cognitive development, for women’s labour market participation and for reducing poverty. The analysis comes from an ESRC funded study entitled ‘Provision and use of preschool childcare in Britain’. This paper focuses on examination of childcare provision by the formal childcare workforce and presents results from a secondary analysis of the UK’s Labour Force Survey, Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, and Ofsted registration data. The 2005-2014 results show a highly gendered (98% female), low valued workforce in which qualifications are modestly rising (12% increase over time in NVQ level 3) but persistently low paid (on average £6.60 per hour) compared with other occupations (£13.10 per hour). The study also finds a shrinkage in the childcare workforce - of around five per cent in Britain since 2005 (from 329k in 2005-07 to 313k in 2012-14) – and more people describing themselves as childminders in the LFS than are registered with Ofsted, suggesting a possible growth in illegal childminding. The implications of these findings raise questions about what the British childcare workforce will look like in the future, who will do childcare work in the future, and whether it is possible to achieve ‘good quality’, ‘affordable childcare’ and ‘decent pay’ for British childcare workers. These issues are important for the future regulation of the British ‘childcare’ workforce and policy development in this vital area

Getting it right: for Care Experienced students in Higher education

Commissioned by UCL Access and Widening Participation Office, this research investigated the experiences of students in Higher Education when they have a background of having lived in local authority care as children. Previously known as ‘care leavers’, this group is now known as ‘care experienced’ young people. Care experienced young people are much less likely to achieve the academic qualifications, overcome the practical obstacles and reconcile the personal difficulties necessary to attend university than other young people who have not been in care, and when they do get to university, there is a relatively high chance they will withdraw early. The aim of the current study is to explore what happens at university, from the perspective of both institutional arrangements, and current and former students’ experience, to encourage, or discourage, care experienced students to follow their chosen study programme

The impact of Covid-19 on families, children aged 0-4 and pregnant women in Tower Hamlets: Wave One Survey Findings

Families in Tower Hamlets is an ongoing research project led by University College London into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of families with young children and pregnant women. This report is of initial findings from the ‘first 500’ respondents, who completed the survey between July and November 2020. We present findings in terms of seven main ethnic groups that broadly represent proportions in the local population: one third of the population identify as White British and White Irish; a further third identify as Bangladeshi; and a final third identify with a wide range of other ethnicities. There are marked differences within this group so we have used the categories: Other White; Asian Other; Somali; Black & Black Other; and Other ethnic group to illustrate the experiences of respondents. With this lens of ethnicity, combined with analysis by household income, we can see certain clear patterns arising. Here, we focus on five main areas: family livelihoods; housing and environment; supporting children at home; health and social support services; and participants’ own health and mental health. Subsequent outputs will present findings in more detail

Income, ethnic diversity and family life in East London during the first wave of the pandemic: An assets approach

Objective: This paper reports first results from a survey of 992 parents and parents to be living in an ethnically diverse and socio-economically unequal borough of East London during the coronavirus pandemic that reduced mobility, closed services and threatened public health. / Background: Little is known about the place based impacts of the pandemic on families with young children. We describe the living circumstances of families with children under five or expecting a baby living in Tower Hamlets during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and then examine the relative importance of household characteristics such as ethnicity and household income for adverse impacts on survey respondents, as seen in mental health outcomes. / Method: a community survey sample recruited with support from the local council comprised 75% mothers/pregnant women, 25% fathers/partners of pregnant women. Reflecting the borough population, 35 percent were White British or Irish and 36 percent were Bangladeshi, and the remainder were from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Adopting an assets based approach, we describe material, familial and community assets using three household income bands and seven ethnic groups. We then use regressions to identify which assets were most important in mitigating adversity. / Results: We find that material assets (income, employment, food insecurity, housing quality) were often insecure and in decline but familial assets (home caring practices, couple relationships) were largely sustained. Community assets (informal support, service provision) were less available or means of access had changed. Our analyses find that while descriptively ethnicity structured adverse impacts of the pandemic related changes to family life, income and couple relationships were the most important assets for mitigating adversity as seen in mental health status. / Conclusion: Supporting family assets will require close attention to generating local and decent work as well as enhancing access to community assets

What Family Circumstances, During COVID-19, Impact on Parental Mental Health in an Inner City Community in London?

The introduction of lockdown due to a public health emergency in March 2020 marked the beginning of substantial changes to daily life for all families with young children. Here we report the experience of families from London Borough of Tower Hamlets with high rates of poverty and ethnic and linguistic diversity. This inner city community, like communities worldwide, has experienced a reduction or closure in access to education, support services, and in some cases, a change in or loss of income, job, and food security. Using quantitative survey items (N = 992), we examined what differences in family circumstances, for mothers and fathers of young children aged 0-5 living in Tower Hamlets, during March 2020 to November 2020, were associated with their mental health status. We measure parental mental health using symptoms of depression (self-report: Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale: PHQ-8), symptoms of anxiety levels (self-report: General Anxiety Disorder: GAD-7), and perceptions of direct loneliness. We find parental mental health difficulties are associated with low material assets (financial security, food security, and children having access to outside space), familial assets (parents time for themselves and parent status: lone vs. cohabiting), and community assets (receiving support from friends and family outside the household). South Asian parents and fathers across ethnicities were significantly more likely to experience mental health difficulties, once all other predictors were accounted for. These contributing factors should be considered for future pandemics, where restrictions on people's lives are put in place, and speak to the importance of reducing financial insecurity and food insecurity as a means of improving the mental health of parents

Interim Briefing Report. The First 500: The impact of Covid-19 on families, children aged 0-4 and pregnant women in Tower Hamlets

Families in Tower Hamlets is an ongoing research project led by University College London into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of families with young children and pregnant women. This report is of initial findings from the ‘first 500’ respondents, who completed the survey between July and September 2020. We present findings in terms of three main ethnic groups that broadly represent proportions in the local population: one third of the population identify as White British and White Irish; a further third identify as Bangladeshi; and a final third identify with a wide range of other ethnicities which we have had to present as ‘Other ethnicity’ in this report and we acknowledge this is unlikely to do justice to the range of experience within this group. With this lens of ethnicity, combined with analysis by household income, we can see certain clear patterns arising. Here, we focus on five main areas: family livelihoods; housing and environment; supporting children at home; health and social support services; and participants’ own health and mental health. Subsequent outputs will present findings in more detail

Falling off the ladder: Using focal theory to understand and improve the educational experiences of young people in transition from public care

Coleman's focal theory, developed in relation to adolescents in the general population, appears to offer some explanation for the poor educational achievement and social exclusion of care leavers, but has been little tested empirically. This paper revisits data from two studies of care-experienced young people aged 18-25, drawing on qualitative interviews in the UK and four other European countries, to see if focal theory would have helped to predict their educational progression or otherwise. The lives of research participants were found to be characterised by disruptions and uncertainty, with multiple challenges confronting them in quick succession, making it hard for them to pace their transitions as, according to focal theory, other young people do. Findings suggest that the theory could be used to inform policy designed to improve educational outcomes and should be incorporated into training for those responsible for supporting care leavers through their transition to adulthood