But the recession is putting this colossal feat under its sternest test. The Daycare Trust's Childcare and the Recession report (see p3) is a valuable attempt to capture the problem. Unemployment has forced many parents to remove children from childcare because they can no longer afford it. Some parents are behind with fees or have not passed tax credits to pay for childcare. Settings suffering falling occupancy rates have closed down, creating upheaval for remaining families who have to find another place or give up work. For children, the disruption means the severance of an attachment with a carer that can damage their outcomes.
The scale of closures, real or anticipated, is hard to tell. But the childcare market is not yet in crisis. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests some settings are benefiting from the recession as mothers return to work to boost household income. A rising birth rate also bodes well for occupancy rates.
The Daycare Trust offers some interesting recommendations to help childcare provision survive the downturn. For government, it wants the poorest parents to be able to claim up to 100 per cent of childcare costs through tax credits; the free entitlement to be extended from 15 to 20 hours a week for all two- to four-year-olds; and a central fund for councils to draw on to protect childcare places that are at risk. However, since these demand more cash, they are not realistic while the economy continues to shrink.
More useful are recommendations to councils: to run a voluntary local "staff bank" of childcare workers made redundant; to source business advice for settings feeling the strain; and to refrain from increasing rents to settings where they are the landlord.
The Daycare Trust rejects recent calls for parents to be able to claim tax credits on behalf of grandparents caring for children. Given grandparent care is unregulated and currently no burden to the taxpayer, it should not be subsidised over childcare settings. A forthcoming election adds to uncertainty. In an interview with CYP Now last autumn, shadow families minister Maria Miller revealed her own parents care for her children. If such care was to be subsidised in the future, it could be to the detriment of childcare settings.
Ravi Chandiramani, editor, Children & Young People Now
