Nursery World - Survey identifies barriers to childcare

Childcare is viewed as unaffordable by many black and minority ethnic (BME) parents, despite the recognition of the benefits it brings for the whole family, the Daycare Trust said this week.

A new report out on Wednesday, based on interviews with 70 BME parentsrecruited through children's centres and refugee networks acrossEngland, found that many of them are unaware that they can get help topay for childcare through tax credits.

Interviewees included new migrants and asylum seekers and refugees, aswell as established communities.

'Increasing the use of childcare among BME families is crucial to theGovernment's target of eliminating child poverty in Britain by 2020,'the report says. It recommends more free places and more outreach workto bring BME communities into children's centres.

Playbuses or 'stay and play' sessions were often the first point ofcontact for childcare for BME families, the survey found.

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