How would you like to work in a job where you are so mistrusted that every time you carried out one of your most basic duties, someone had to watch over you? In case you're tempted, you also need to know that you won't be paid as much as a factory worker at Walkers Crisps.
It's hardly surprising that it's an uphill struggle to get men to work in childcare. The main reason men don't want to work with young children is because they don't want to be accused of being child abusers. Yet a Thomas Coram Research Unit study discovered only two instances of abuse in daycare in England.1 Since then the two Newcastle nursery nurses accused of sexually abusing children have been publicly vindicated. So this leaves one case. There will have been other cases, not investigated or pursued through lack of evidence, but thinking that all men in daycare settings pose a significant risk to children is unjustified.
Yet the climate of fear remains. One London nursery teacher says, 'I do live in fear - even today, even now - that I am one false accusation away from losing the job that I really love.'
In their attempts to avoid being accused of untoward behaviour, many male childcare workers refrain from touching or cuddling children, or having them sit on their laps. But anyone who has spent time in the company of a baby or young child knows how foolish this is. Children fall over; they get tired and upset. They want cuddles. Sterile, safety-first daycare settings put the fear of an allegation before a child's need for human warmth and affection. They are simply not looking after the children properly.
Increasingly, female staff are called upon to 'witness' male workers changing nappies or taking children to the toilet. The Observer recently ran a report on the Sheffield Children's Centre, where staff are monitored by CCTV and where two members of staff have to be present during all 'intimate care'.2 Do we really want children to grow up thinking it is normal for two adults to watch over them while they get dressed and undressed?
Pay barrier
The second major barrier to men working in childcare is pay. According to Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit's research, qualified childcarers can earn as little as 5.32 per hour - while Walkers Crisps pays its unskilled staff 5.68 per hour. It is alarming that the safe handling of deep-fried potato slices commands a higher wage than the care and education of young children.
Female staff in early education have been working for a pittance for decades. Surely they deserve to be paid more because their work is valuable - not just because it suddenly seems like a good idea to get more men in on the act.
There is also the argument that boys need men in nurseries as 'positive male role models'. But who is deciding what makes a 'positive' role model? In an interview with The Observer, Chrissy Meleady, chair of Sheffield Children's Centre, described her male staff as 'real men...not the ones with small glasses and sandals'. Can you really tell a good role model for children by looking at their choice of eyewear and footwear?
Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the popular argument that children benefit from 'positive role models'. There is evidence in Effective Provision of Pre-School Education that suggests that poor nurseries have a worse effects on boys than girls.3 But it is hardly likely that simply bringing in more men is going to improve poor nurseries.
Indeed, the opposite might happen if nurseries started taking on male workers simply to meet Government targets rather than selecting the most capable people for the job.
So what should the Government do to persuade more men into childcare? The simple answer is: nothing. But if it wants to make working with young children a more attractive career for women and men, it must regulate to ensure that staff are paid properly, work for well-funded and managed organisations and have good training and development programmes. In the end, developing good jobs in childcare will create a more satisfied, dynamic and talented workforce -which both men and women will want to join. NW Julian Grenier is head of Kate Greenaway Nursery School, Islington, London
