The benefits of improved access to daycare through the Government's welfare-to-work programme are cancelled out by the low-pay trap which leaves some mothers worse off, according to a research project centred on an early excellence centre in Hackney.
Welfare to work, which encourages parents into the labour force, is a key weapon in the Government's campaign to eradicate child poverty. But the study found that, while mothers from socially disadvantaged families with access to good daycare are more likely to take paid work, they can often see a reduction in their household income because their benefits are cut.
The study, which began in April 2000, focused on 120 families, including 143 children, half of whom were randomly allocated a place at the Mapledene Early Years Centre on the Holly Street Estate. The remainder, the control group, were not.
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