Nursery World - Parents want men in nurseries but male school leavers 'not interested' in childcare

New research has found that while the majority of parents are in favour of men working in nurseries, most male students would not consider childcare as a career.

The Major Providers’ Group, made up of 14 of the largest nursery chains in the UK, questioned 1,198 parents who use nurseries about their views on men working in childcare. Ninety-eight per cent said they were in favour of men caring for their children as trained childcare professionals.

This is nearly double the number of parents who, in a survey by the Children’s Workforce Development Council in 2009, said they would like their child to have a male childcare worker in their early years setting (News, 20 January 2009).

Despite this, findings from the Major Providers’ Group poll of 113 male school leavers aged 16-19 revealed that none of the students were considering childcare as a career.

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