Nursery World - To the point - Thinking must join up

Men's aspirations to be involved in family life are on the up. There is a new wave of dads emerging who want to wheel buggies, change nappies and join mum and child on the first walk to nursery. They are ready to reap the pleasures, and pains, of hands-on parenthood.

And yet women have so far continued to take the bulk of the responsibilities of raising the next generation. This responsibility means that it is they who face the greater struggle to balance work with family life and it is more often women who pay the financial penalty of leaving a job or working part time. Affordable, reliable, quality childcare remains a significant barrier.

Impact of costly Childcare

Research from the Resolution Foundation has revealed the consequence of this. Its report, Counting the Costs of Childcare, found that high childcare costs mean a woman working full-time could bring home as little as £4 a week in extra pay. This unsurprisingly means large numbers of mothers decide it is simply not worth working, and the economy is robbed of their skills. The authors tell how hard-won progress in tackling the childcare affordability crisis 'has slowed since April 2011, when the Government reduced the percentage of childcare costs that can be covered by the childcare element of Working Tax Credit'.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included