Labour looks to employers for childcare
Gabriella Jozwiak
Friday, June 21, 2013
The Labour Party is asking employers how they could create more on-site nurseries, the shadow children's minister has announced.
Speaking at the National Day Nurseries Association conference yesterday, Sharon Hodgson said future Labour childcare policies would be formed in consultation with employers to make workplaces more family friendly.
She said affordable childcare would benefit employers as well as parents because they would be able to retain experienced staff “instead of losing them because they can’t afford to work”.
“We have many more family-friendly workplaces these days,” said Hodgson.
“But also we have some employers having on-site nurseries, or helping their employees – particularly those who work atypical hours – find childcare.
“I want to see how we can develop that culture, and we are having those conversations with employers.”
Family and Childcare Trust research manager Jill Rutter said more workplace nurseries would help many families, as nearly 40 per cent of employers hired staff on atypical work patterns, such as shift work, weekend work or irregular working.
“Many parents who have atypical work patterns rely on their partner or on grandparents to provide childcare, but not everyone has access to this informal childcare,” said Rutter.
“Those without such support networks have much less choice in the job market.
“While some employers, for example the NHS, have developed family-friendly work practices, including workplace nurseries, the Family and Childcare Trust believes that this good practice needs to be extended to all sectors, particularly to staff working in retail.”
In her speech, Hodgson also suggested that Labour did not support the government’s current proposals to diminish local authorities' role in early years improvement.
“The local authority role works well in terms of quality improvement and sustainability in some areas but not others, and that needs to be worked on – but not by throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” said Hodgson.