The Daycare Trust last week published its report on the Parents' Eye, a one-year project run by the Trust and funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation that highlighted the gaps in childcare for families from various ethnic communities. Among those the project worked with were Black Caribbean and Black African parents in Croydon, Surrey, the Chinese community in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and the Bangladeshi community in Oldham and the Pakistani community in Rochdale, Lancashire.
The report recommended that a person be appointed in every local authority to support, advise and train those responsible for equal opportunities in each childcare setting, and that Children's Information Services be supported to be 'more creative' in how they provide information to all communities. It also recommended that the Government 'regularly monitor'
the impact of the national childcare strategy on ethnic minority groups.
The report pointed out that in 2002, only 81 per cent of black parents, 70 per cent of Asian parents and 71 per cent of parents from other minority ethnic groups accessed any form of childcare, compared with 87 per cent of white parents. Just over half (53 per cent) of black parents said too little information was available about childcare services, compared with 45 per cent of white parents and 37 per cent of Asian parents.
The report also called for an evaluation and development of existing work in order to recruit more childcare staff from black and minority ethnic groups and build a representative workforce at all levels of the sector. It quoted one parent as saying, 'One nursery has mostly black children and all-white staff. It doesn't make sense to send your child into that environment.'
At a conference in London on the Parents' Eye project, Margaret Hodge, minister for children, highlighted the Govern- ment's childcare recruitment campaign, which aims to recruit more people from ethnic minorities to work in the sector and was re-launched last week. She said, 'We know that it can be difficult for some black and minority ethnic families to find affordable and appropriate childcare and we are looking at how we can help them further.
'We are also looking to recruit more people from black and ethnic backgrounds to work in childcare to build a stronger and more diverse workforce. This will provide children with the opportunity to benefit from a range of cultural ideas and inspiration, and also provide a flexible career opportunity for many parents.'
Stephen Burke, Daycare Trust director, said, 'Childcare can help promote equality and tackle disadvantage, but still too many children and families from black and minority ethnic communities are missing out. The recommendations in this report will help build a thriving multi-ethnic Britain where everyone has a better chance in life.'
* See Special Report, pages 10 and 11
