Nursery World - Childcare key to work-life balance

Early years experts gathered to discuss the role of employers and the Government in providing a good work-life balance for employees at a 4Children conference in London last week. Alexandra Jones, senior researcher at The Work Foundation, warned that employers 'must wake up to the issue of childcare'. At present 40 per cent of employers cite childcare problems as the reason for female staff not returning to work after maternity leave. Coupled with the statistic that women will make up 80 per cent of the workforce growth to 2010, there is a pressing need to provide workers with accessible childcare.

Alexandra Jones, senior researcher at The Work Foundation, warned that employers 'must wake up to the issue of childcare'. At present 40 per cent of employers cite childcare problems as the reason for female staff not returning to work after maternity leave. Coupled with the statistic that women will make up 80 per cent of the workforce growth to 2010, there is a pressing need to provide workers with accessible childcare.

Keynote speaker Dawn Primarolo MP, Paymaster General, said that the Government had boosted childcare provision since 1997 but that employers must fully support its childcare initiatives to guarantee future improvements.

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