Nursery World - Informal care preferred by many parents

Policymakers are being urged to reconsider the current expansion of formal childcare provision and focus on the benefits of informal care provided by friends and family. The recommendation is made in a report funded by Sure Start Kilburn Priory in London. Valuing Informal Care: What Mothers of Young Children Want is based on interviews with 200 parents in the local area and published by the Hera Trust, an organisation that aims to advance education in social sciences and the role of women in society.

The recommendation is made in a report funded by Sure Start Kilburn Priory in London. Valuing Informal Care: What Mothers of Young Children Want is based on interviews with 200 parents in the local area and published by the Hera Trust, an organisation that aims to advance education in social sciences and the role of women in society.

The report examined the use of informal childcare within family and community. It found that mothers preferred to look after their very young children, with back-up from friends and family.

'Informal sources of care emerged as being popular in the study because they were seen by mothers as trustworthy complements to their maternal care,' the report said. 'With friends and relatives a mother knows, and often has direct say over, how childcare is performed.'

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