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SECTION THREE - CHILDCARE PREFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
3.1 Section Three of the report examines parents' childcare preferences through an exploration of the ideal patterns of demand for childcare, looking specifically at when childcare is required and what type is preferred.
IDEAL ARRANGEMENTS - TYPE OF PROVIDER
All Types of Provision
3.2 Parents were asked to identify their ideal childcare arrangements, imagining a situation where all childcare options are available to them and all are affordable. The most popular type of provision in these circumstances is a family member (overall, 28% of parents said this) and of these 75% said that their ideal provider would be the child's grandparent(s). Interestingly, overall very few respondents (just 3%) said that, ideally, they themselves would look after their child 13.
Figure 3.1 - Ideal Childcare Arrangements
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base = 1304 (all respondents)
3.3 Examining responses broken down by those currently using childcare (both frequently and infrequently, formal and informal) and those not currently using childcare reveals a difference in the preferences of these groups. Those not using childcare found it difficult to identify a single main type of provision that would be their ideal (29% of those not using childcare did not state an ideal arrangement, compared to only 1% of those who do currently use childcare). Those currently using childcare are much more likely than those not using childcare to favour provision by a family member (37% compared to 19%) or a nursery (21% compared 6%).
Figure 3.2 - Ideal Childcare Arrangements, by current childcare arrangements
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base = 1304 (all respondents). Information on usage/non-usage is drawn from a variable that covers those who use childcare in a typical week and those who use it infrequently (642 respondents) and those who never use childcare (662 respondents)
3.4 The findings from the qualitative research, which found a widespread (although not unilateral) view that family were the most suitable childcare providers, support the quantitative findings. The comments made in the qualitative interviews illustrate that the five key issues which appear to drive the use of informal care (although, perhaps, not in order of importance) are cost, trust, availability, flexibility and the happiness of the child. Thus, for perhaps the majority of parents, using grandparents for their childcare is ideal, as they believe that their parents will care for their children in the way in which they would wish. A key reason for the preference of using grandparents is trust, with parents saying that this means they do not have to worry about the safety of their children. The convenience and flexibility of using grandparents are mentioned as other advantages, as parents are not usually restricted to specific time periods. An additional benefit of using grandparents mentioned by the parents is that they are usually not paid in monetary terms, although are sometimes paid in kind, i.e. being taken out for dinner, favour being returned etc.
3.5 As indicated above, the use of grandparents as the ideal childcare provision is not universal, and other parents (often those on higher incomes) feel that this is an unfair pressure to place on their own parents, and that it could detract from the relationship between grandparent and grandchild. Thus, by using formal childcare, these parents feel that it can, for example, enable grandparents to treat their grandchildren and it means that grandparents do not have to be involved with discipline. Many of these parents also mentioned that asking grandparents was particularly unfair as they got older, and feel it is better to have a professional relationship with their childcare provider, as it does not create any awkwardness within the family. Additionally, as formal providers are trained and qualified, some of the parents using formal childcare think they provide superior care to informal providers. In addition to the fact that they do not want to rely on family for childcare, these parents often prefer to use formal childcare due to the social and educational opportunities for their children and mentioned benefits such as their children mixing with children of different ages (see paragraph 2.17).
Formal Provision
3.6 To find out more about what those respondents currently using informal care would do if they had to choose a formal provider, respondents who indicated that their first choice was informal provision were asked to indicate their first choice of formal provider. An Out of School Club was the first choice of formal provider where parents' ideal arrangement was an informal one (34%), followed by a childminder (20%) and a babysitter (6%).
3.7 The overall profile of first-choice formal provider (where all are available and affordable) is shown in Figure 3.3. This combines the responses from two questions - one on ideal provider and a follow up question where the respondent's ideal provider is an informal one.
Figure 3.3 - First choice of formal provider
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base = 1304 (all respondents)
3.8 The qualitative research indicates that there appears to be a divide among parents relating to the relative merits of nursery and childminder provision with the divide being very much related to personal choice and opinion rather than the socio-economic characteristics of the parents. Views expressed in preference for nursery provision included reasons linked to safety, education, and socialisation whereas other parents prefer to use childminders for reasons such as flexibility, cost, a 'homely' environment and affection given to their child.
3.9 A common reason for using childminders cited by the parents interviewed is the fact that the childminder can build up a close relationship with the child, and show affection, giving 'kisses and cuddles'. An additional perceived benefit of using childminders is flexibility, which is an important issue for the parents if they need to change the hours of childcare slightly or if they are running late to collect their child. Conversely, this was a criticism of nurseries, that they are inflexible in terms of how many hours of childcare they provide each day and when the children have to be collected. A common worry among those parents using nurseries was that they closed at a certain time, and that it was not possible to change the days or times their child attended.
3.10 A key reason for using nurseries raised by parents was the fact it provided their child with an opportunity to mix with other children and socialise. Other reasons were parents feeling that nurseries offered greater safety than childminders due to the volume of staff and the relative transparency of the care environment. One benefit of nurseries raised by an ethnic minority parent was the opportunity for her child to mix with native English speakers.
Ideal versus Current Provision
3.11 Around three in five parents (59%) surveyed said that their current provider was their ideal and, of these, around three quarters (74%) said that they would not change anything about their current arrangements, compared to about two-thirds (64%) of parents whose current and ideal arrangements differ.
Figure 3.4 - Ideal provision, actual provision and changes to actual provision
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 1304 (all respondents) broken down as follows: respondents whose current provision is their ideal (775) and respondents whose current provider is not their ideal (529).
3.12 Many parents who are not using their ideal provider said that this was because they do not use childcare at all (41% of those whose ideal and current arrangements differ). The next most common reasons that ideal and actual arrangements differ were related to affordability of childcare (15%) and availability of childcare at required times (14%).
Figure 3.5 - Reasons for not using ideal provider
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 529 (parents whose current provider is not their ideal type of provision)
3.13 The majority of parents (70%) said that they would not make any changes to their current childcare arrangements. Over a quarter (27%) of parents who said that they would change something about their childcare arrangements said that the first priority would be to reduce the financial burden on their own household. One in five parents (20%), of those who said they would make a change, said that reducing the burden on informal carers or increased access to allow working, training or study 14 would be the most important change they would make.
Figure 3.6 - If you could change one thing about your current provision, what would you change?
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 392 (respondents who said they would make a change to childcare provision). Note, all respondents were asked this question but 917 said they would not change anything about their current arrangements.
Issues relating to number of children
3.14 It might be expected that households with multiple children are more likely to face difficulties in arranging and co-ordinating childcare. Figure 3.7 shows that households with three or more children are less likely to use childcare than those with fewer children. In terms of the nature of the provision used, there does not appear to be any significant differences between the types of provision used by family size. Figure 3.8 (overleaf) shows that the main issues faced by these parents are related to cost and affordability of childcare. Transport is also an issue for many parents with more than one child.
Figure 3.7 - Number of children in household and use of childcare
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 1304 (all respondents) broken down as follows: households with 1 child (602); households with 2 children (519); households with 3 or more children (183)
Figure 3.8 - Nature of issues with childcare related to having more than one child15
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 62 (respondents who use childcare in a typical week, who have more than one child and have experienced difficulties associated with this). Multiple responses were possible.
Due to the small number of respondents falling into this category, care should be taken in interpreting the findings.
Additional Support Needs
3.15 The majority of respondents (96%) said that their child did not have any additional support needs 16. The nature of these needs is summarised in Figure 3.9 below. For the respondents whose children do have additional support needs, the most common reason is a physical illness (this includes epilepsy and diabetes) or physical disability (26%). Learning difficulties or other learning problems are the next most common source of additional support needs (20%) along with autism (again, 20%). Some additional support needs are the result of multiple factors and, as such, the total in Figure 3.9 below is greater than 100%.
Figure 3.9 - Nature of additional support needs
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 46 (respondents who said that their child has additional support needs). Multiple responses were possible and total therefore sums to more than 100%
3.16 Nearly half of parents (46%) whose child has additional support needs said that this had no effect on their childcare options or decisions. However, the most common difficulty (cited by around a quarter of respondents) was in accessing provision of a suitable nature. This clearly indicates that requirements for specialist provision for children with additional support needs will only affect a small number of parents. However, this should not detract from the very significant impact this can have on the parents affected.
3.17 The qualitative research found that for the small number of parents interviewed who had children with conditions such as Asperger's Syndrome, the condition although not being the only consideration, had been a key factor in deciding whether to access childcare. Examples of problems such as the difficulty of explaining the child's condition and how to deal with it with 'strangers' and worry about how the child would cope with a strange situation were cited as factors in the decision. Other participants in the qualitative research with children with particular needs have used childcare specifically geared to the needs of their children accessed through organisations such as the Autism Society. A minority of parents had children with more general health or development issues, which was preventing or delaying childcare use.
Figure 3.10 - Effect of additional support needs on childcare options and decisions
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base: 46 (respondents who said that their child has additional support needs). Multiple responses were possible and total therefore sums to more than 100%. Due to the small number of respondents for whom this question is relevant, care must be taken in interpreting findings.
DAYS AND TIMES OF REGULAR CHILDCARE DEMAND
Days that childcare is used
3.18 Childcare is used much more during the week than at weekends, and use is highest at the beginning of the working week - 81% of those who use childcare in a typical week do so on a Monday, falling gradually to 70% on a Friday. Only 6% use childcare on a Saturday and only 3% use it on a Sunday.
Figure 3.11 - Days that childcare is used in a typical week
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base = 547 (respondents who use childcare in a typical week). Multiple responses were possible.
Times that childcare is used17
3.19 Of those using childcare in a typical week, respondents have a wide variation in the precise arrangements that they use. Some have varying arrangements on different days or on different weeks but overall, 90% of respondents who use childcare said their arrangements are the same on all of the days that they use it. Of these respondents just over one in ten (11%) make use of childcare at two separate times of day 18 on the days that they use childcare.
3.20 Around a quarter (26%) of those whose normal usage is the same on all childcare days have childcare that begins before 9am, but a larger proportion (43%) have childcare that begins in the afternoon (12 noon until 5pm inclusive). Only a small proportion (3%) have childcare arrangements that begin after 5pm.
3.21 Less than 1% of respondents' childcare finished before 9am and 61% of all childcare finishes for the day between 4pm and 6pm (inclusive). Only 7% of respondents, whose childcare is the same on all days, have arrangements that finish after 6pm.
Times that childcare is not available
3.22 Fourteen percent of those who use childcare in a typical week said that there were times of the week when they would like to access childcare but were unable to do so. Those that experienced this were asked about the days/times that this happens - multiple responses to this question were possible. Access during the working day was a problem for the largest single group of respondents (42%). The working day may not mean the traditional 9am to 5pm for all respondents 19, but in many cases this will be the period in question. Despite the findings above that show that most childcare usage is during the working day, there does appear to be unmet demand during these times. The largest group of those with unmet demand amounts only to 5% of the total number of respondents who use childcare in a typical week, falling to 2% of those who have difficulty accessing childcare at weekends (the smallest group).
Figure 3.12 - Times in a typical week where respondents have childcare access problems
Source: 2006 Quantitative Survey
Base = 77 (those who access childcare in a typical week and who indicated that there are circumstances/times of day in a typical week when childcare is not available).
3.23 The qualitative research also found that there were particular times of the day, week or year during which parents felt there was a general lack of formal care available. In particular, those doing shift work noted that friends and family rather than formal childcare tended to be used to cover early morning, evening or overnight shifts. Others noted that there was no formal childcare available at weekends if parents have to work.
3.24 A particular problem occurs for these parents when shift patterns change from week to week as they experience difficulties matching flexibility with formal childminders. Many of those who work weekends or shifts report having to rely on friends and family or cut down their working hours in order to be able to manage childcare. It appears, therefore, that there is a need for some formal cover to match the flexible shift patterns of many people's working lives. The qualitative interviews found evidence to suggest that often those without access to informal childcare are limited in the job market, as they need to find a job to fit around formal childcare rather than being able to find formal childcare to fit around their jobs.
3.25 Other common problems were school holidays, in-service days and childminders' holidays. Those who have managed to organise affordable care during term- time often said that they find it difficult to manage the school holidays. These parents commonly have to rely heavily on friends and family to manage school holidays and take many days off work as holiday.
3.26 Parents of older children said that they had problems finding suitable arrangements for teenage children who did not necessarily need 'looking after' but needed to be in a safe, supervised and entertaining environment either before or after school and in the school holidays. For some of these parents, Out of School Clubs were seen as ideal, but it was also noted that these are not available for all children or are too expensive for other parents.
3.27 A particular gap in the type of childcare provision available was identified by lone parents, non-working parents and parents with part-time work and part-time childcare. It was noted that there was a lack of flexible ad hoc childcare such as 'drop-in' or 'crèche' type services. Several of these parents felt they could not use any formal care arrangements as they needed the flexibility of using childcare a couple of times a week just for a couple of hours as and when required, rather than having to book and stick to a particular slot with a nursery or childminder. A common difficulty reported by many of the parents interviewed is the difficulty in finding babysitters to enable them to undertake social activities in the evenings.
3.28 Key findings in this section:
- A family member is the ideal provider for 28% of respondents.
- Out of School Clubs, childminders and nursery/crèche are the most commonly preferred type of formal provision.
- The majority of parents are satisfied with their childcare arrangements; 3 in 5 said their current provider was their ideal and three-quarters that they would not change anything about their arrangements.
- Only 15% of all respondents who do not use their ideal arrangements said it was because they cannot afford it.
- In a typical week, childcare is most commonly used Monday to Friday. Weekend use forms a small proportion of overall childcare use.
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