Parenta July 2020 Magazine

‘Daddy Day Care’
increases by over 50%
during lockdown
A recent survey has revealed that on
average, fathers in the UK are spending
longer - 58% longer - looking after their
children in lockdown than they would
usually do.
In the run up to Father’s Day, The
Fatherhood Institute revealed that
research from the Office for National
Statistics show that fathers, given
shorter hours and more homeworking,
have dramatically increased their
contribution to childcare.
The survey of 1,300 families was
conducted between 28 March and
26 April and also found that men’s
weekly working hours (including their
commute) has fallen by an average of
11% in the same period of time.
In 2015, men spent 39% of the time
that women spent on childcare and
in lockdown, this figure has risen to
66% – a rise of 58%.
The Institute calculated that in order to
maintain the amount of time fathers are
spending on childcare post-lockdown,
they would need an additional eight
hours of free time each week.
The think tank suggests this could be
achieved by reducing the time spent
commuting to and from work, working
remotely more often, and cutting a few
hours from their working week.
The Fatherhood Institute is now calling
for the government to encourage
fathers to embrace remote working
if they can in order to enable them to
spend more time on childcare.
Adrienne Burgess, co-chief executive of
the Fatherhood Institute, said:
Childcare
news & views
“The Government’s figures show that
fathers, given shorter hours and more
homeworking, dramatically increase
their contribution to childcare.
“It’s time to end workplace
discrimination against involved
fatherhood so that dads can play their
part as they wish to – and will do.”
The study comes after research
found that full-time working
mothers suffer from high stress
levels.
A team of researchers from the
University of Manchester and the
University of Essex analysed data from
more than 6,000 individuals collated
by The UK Household Longitudinal
Study. The nationwide study, published
in the British Sociological Association
journal, “Sociology”, gathers various
information from households across the
country including the working life of the
inhabitants, their hormone levels, blood
pressure and experiences with stress.
According to their findings, the overall
levels of biomarkers associated with
chronic stress are 40 percent higher
among women who have two children
and are working full-time jobs, in
comparison to women who have no
children and are also working full-time.
Read the survey here and the full
story, as reported by the Independent
newspaper here.
Childcare providers warned
they may have to raise fees
in order to survive
As childcare providers prepare to
reopen, they face huge financial losses
and could well have to recoup these
from parents or risk going bust, experts
have warned.
Parents may be forced to pay up to
10% more for childcare or potentially
quit work to look after their children,
as experts are calling for emergency
funding to save the early years sector.
Around 25% of childcare providers are
predicted to go out of business in the
next 12 months due to huge losses
sustained during lockdown.
Neil Leitch of the Early Years Alliance,
said it was inevitable that many
providers would be forced to raise
fees in order to survive. “They will be
reluctant, as they know most parents’
finances have been hurt by the crisis,
but they don’t have a choice,” Mr Leitch
added. “If parents can’t afford it, they
will have to quit their jobs instead.”
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic,
parents paid on average £127 per week,
or over £6,600 a year, for a part-time
nursery place, according to charity
Coram Family and Childcare. This was an
increase of 5% from 2018. If prices go up
by another 10%, the cost for 25 hours of
childcare a week would rise to £140, or
£7,264 a year.
Providers have suffered huge losses
already while closed during lockdown,
as many are having to still cover running
costs in full and charging parents a
reduced fee. Some have been unable
to furlough staff, after the Government
said they could not use the job retention
scheme if they were also being paid by
the state for the free hours of childcare
parents are entitled to. Most have now
reopened, but with fewer children
in order to meet social distancing
requirements, causing further losses..
The Local Government Association,
which represents councils, is calling for
emergency funding to rescue the ailing
childcare sector. The LGA’s Judith Blake
said that without it, there was a risk that
parents would be forced out of work to
care for children.
“Having enough childcare places will be
essential to support families and get the
economy moving again as emergency
measures are eased. Yet while childcare
providers have been asked to step-up
in the same way that schools have, their
costs have not been covered in the same
way,” she added.
Schools have been given up to £75,000
each to cover the cost of reopening
safely, for example to pay for extra
cleaning. Meanwhile, nurseries and
childminders have had no extra support.
A Government spokesman said: “We
are providing significant financial and
business support to protect childcare
providers – this includes the coronavirus
job retention scheme, which providers
can access for employees whose salary
is not covered by public funding – and
we have continued early years funding
to councils, worth a planned £3.6bn
2020-21.”
Read the full story as reported in the
Daily Telegraph here.
Early years sector misses
out on Government’s
‘catch-up’ funding plan
A £1bn fund to help England’s children
catch up on what they have missed
while schools have been closed has
been announced by the Prime Minister.
However, nurseries, pre-schools and
childminders are not included in this
‘catch-up’ funding plan. This is a
double blow for the sector because
(together with the FE sector) it was
included in the initial announcement
of £700 million – the decision of
which was revoked just 2 hours later.
This rejection for early years will be
felt even harder as the news of the
funding plan included a statement from
the Prime Minister thanking childcare
workers for their support during the
pandemic.
Boris Johnson said, “I want to once
again thank teachers, childcare workers
and support staff for the brilliant work
they have been doing throughout the
pandemic. This includes providing
remote education for those not in school,
as well as face-to-face education for
vulnerable children and the children of
critical workers.
“This £1 billion catch-up package
will help head teachers to provide
extra support to children who have
fallen behind while out of school. I
am determined to do
everything I can to get all
children back in school
from September, and we
will bring forward plans
on how this will happen
as soon as possible.”
Neil Leitch, chief
executive of the Early
Years Alliance said,
“Given that quality early
years provision plays a
pivotal role in children’s
long-term learning and
development, it beggars
belief that the early
years sector has been excluded from
this ‘catch-up’ package.”
NDNA chief executive, Purnima Tanuku
said, “Yet again the Government fails
the early years sector and very young
children who are most in need of
support in their early development
and learning. Decision makers
have demonstrated a total lack of
consideration in the crucial role that
early years practitioners play in a child’s
life, for their families and the wider
economy. Nurseries and other childcare
providers have been the 4th emergency
sector during this crisis, ensuring critical
workers can do their vital jobs. And
now they face a serious financial crisis
themselves. We have been lobbying
the Treasury hard for a recovery and
transformation package to support these
providers to remain sustainable now and
into the future.
“Many nurseries have reopened to very
few children and their businesses are
just not financially viable. And yet, if they
have to close, young children will be left
with no support for their burgeoning
development and parents will be unable
to work.
“The Government must now show that
it takes a child’s early learning seriously
and invest urgently to support young
children and ensure nurseries are
sustainable to support families before
it’s too late.”
Read the full story, as reported by
Nursery World here.
4 July 2020 | parenta.com
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