It stated that single and low-income parents are the ones most likely to need such childcare due to the requirements of their jobs. This is a very sad situation; it must bad enough having to work unsocial hours without the added stress of struggling to find suitable childcare. It could result in their children having little consistency - they could be in a daycare setting during the day but looked after by someone else in the evening.
As the owner of a day nursery, I know it is extremely difficult to find qualified, experienced staff to cover anything other than 9am to 3pm, never mind evenings and weekends. Ours is traditionally a low-paid sector, predominantly staffed by women, many of whom have childcare responsibilities themselves. If people have to pay for their own childcare while they work, it is not often worth their while. Trying to provide a meaningful key person system, with staff present for the duration of the child's day, so that they can welcome the child in the morning and feedback when they go home, would be more problematic with longer opening hours or different staff at evenings and weekends.
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