Researchers from London University's Institute of Education found theuse of childcare by working class families in Battersea and in StokeNewington markedly different from that of their middle classneighbours.
The report, Local Childcare Cultures: working class families andpre-school childcare, is based on in-depth interviews with 70 familiesand 18 childcare providers.
It found that the childcare market accessed by working class familieswas far more uniform in terms of provision than that accessed by middleclass families, relying 'overwhelmingly' on public rather than privatesettings.
Speaking at an Institute of Education seminar to discuss the findings,report author Carol Vincent said, 'Public childcare was used largely asa matter of finances. Private prices were right out of their means. Theprecariousness of all our families was always evident. Things likesimple problems with the tax credit system could easily throw theirfinances into disarray.'
Working class parents were also found to be distrustful of 'strangers'providing childcare and of informal, unsupervised settings. They tendedto see day nurseries as safe and secure, as other adults were present topolice the carers.
These settings were also seen as providing good developmentalopportunities for children, in terms of social experience andpreparation for school.
The influence of community was another reason why working class parentschose local authority provision for their childcare, said Ms Vincent,'because they know the institution and people who have gone there'.
