The report, Mothers' Employment and Childcare Use in Britain, published last week by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said a combination of a huge shortage of daycare places and the cost of formal provision was preventing many mothers of young children from returning to work. It also highlighted a link between the shortage of places and the likelihood that a mother works, citing statistics of eight day nursery places for every 100 children aged under five, seven childminder places for each 100 children under eight, and six out-of-school club places for every 100 children aged five to seven.
The introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and its childcare tax credit element had had a 'relatively limited effect' on employment opportunities for mothers, according to the report. It said that while childcare subsidies cost the Government a lot, they made little impact on mothers' employment, although 'greater use and quality of formal care' was a welcome side effect.
However, Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, warned that unless the Government invested more money directly into the sector, there would be further problems regarding the shortage of care places and the growth of an informal care sector. She said, 'This report is saying there isn't enough childcare around and the Government needs to invest in it. The availability of childcare and daycare places would be significantly enhanced if the tax system were reformed to allow parents to pay childcarers a living wage.'
Karen Walker, director of strategic development at the National Day Nurseries Association, also called for more direct subsidising of the sector. She said, 'The greatest contribution this Government could make to improving quality and availability of places would be to subsidise directly the costs of providing childcare so that day nurseries could pay better wages, elevate the status of childcare as a career and meet the demand for places.'
She also called for the ceiling for WFTC to be raised. 'With average nursery costs at 6,000 a year per child, it is only families on higher incomes who are not struggling,' said Mrs Walker.
Patricia McGinty, a director of the Scottish Independent Nursery Association, said, 'There is a shortage of daycare places because providers don't have confidence in local authorities as they are not sitting down and doing joint planning on the care needed, leaving providers unsure about their long-term strategy.'
The IFS report noted that mothers with school-age children still had difficulties finding a full-time job because few jobs are flexible enough to fit around the school day. The Kids' Clubs Network estimates that there is a mismatch of 1,000 hours a year between the working day and the school day. A KCN spokesperson said that parents now had a 30 per cent chance of finding an out-of-school club near their school but only a 6 per cent chance of getting a place.
The report costs 40 from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE (020 7291 4800).
