Nursery World - Nurseries are helping poor parents to work

The first evaluation of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative, published last week, has found that 40 per cent of working parents using a Neighbourhood Nursery said they had been able to get a job as a result of the provision, and more than a quarter said that they had been able to increase their working hours. Two linked studies, carried out by researchers at the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Oxford, looked at the views and experiences of parents using Neighbourhood Nurseries and at the implementation of the programme from the point of view of providers.

Two linked studies, carried out by researchers at the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Oxford, looked at the views and experiences of parents using Neighbourhood Nurseries and at the implementation of the programme from the point of view of providers.

Alice Bell, co-author of the report into parents' experiences, said, 'Most of the families who have benefited either weren't using childcare before, or were relying on informal care such as grandparents. The initiative has made a real difference to these families' lives.'

She added that more than half the parents surveyed continued to use other forms of childcare, both informal and formal, alongside the Neighbourhood Nursery.

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