The report, The UK at the crossroads: Towards an early years European partnership, contrasts demographics, employment and policies across the 15 member states of the European Union, and summarises care and education services for pre-school-age children.
However, its author, Peter Moss, professor of early childhood education at the University of London's Institute of Education, denies that he is Government-bashing. He says, 'I want to dispel any notion of a uniformly-failing UK compared with a homogeneous and uniformly-successful rest of Europe. The UK has important early childhood traditions, many examples of innovative and inspiring practice and valuable experience from which other European countries can benefit.'
The report notes how the UK is moving towards two years of part-time daycare provision, while most European countries are seeking three years of full-time provision. Among the questions it raises are whether the school starting age should be raised to six, in line with most European countries, and if the UK should move from fragmented but heavily-regulated provision to more uniform provision with more diverse practice.
The report also asks if the sort of childcare workforce the UK has is sustainable or desirable. 'There are many reasons for questioning whether a workforce based on poorly educated, trained and paid women is sustainable,' it says. 'Supply is falling as levels of education among young women improve, while demand is increasing, not only in childcare but also in social care and other non-care work. But in any case, should we continue staffing our services in a way that has remained unchanged for decades? Is work with young children of intrinsically low value?' However, it notes how the European childcare workforce is 'overwhelmingly' female, and the highest percentage of male childcare staff, in Denmark, is only 8 per cent. The UK is the only country within the European Union to set a target for 6 per cent of staff to be male.
Daycare Trust director Stephen Burke said, 'The time is right to take a fundamental look at where we are going and where we want to be in ten years' time. Where we go in this Parliament will determine what kind of childcare services we have for decades to come, and what future generations of children will have.'
Early years organisations welcomed the report. Irene Pilia, assistant chief executive of the National Early Years Network said, 'We support all this report's findings and what it is calling for, including raising the school starting age to six.'
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said, 'Peter Moss has taken a step back and asked if Government policy has been more about getting people to work rather than what is best for children. He raises questions about how much the state should provide in terms of childcare. It will be difficult to answer these questions in the light of the amount of partnership there is with the private sector.' The report costs 10 (inc p&p) from the Daycare Trust, 21 St George's Road, London SE1 6ES (020 7840 3350).
