Working mothers running in circles
Alison Mercer
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Working mothers not only do the 'school run', but also the 'pre-school nursery run', the 'childcare run' and the 'work run', according to a report by an academic at the University of York. The report, Running around in circles: Co-ordinating childcare, education and work, by Christine Skinner, explores how working mothers rely on informal help from neighbours, family and friends as well as formal support from nannies, childminders, childminders' husbands and out-of-school clubs to transport children between different settings at different times of day.
The report, Running around in circles: Co-ordinating childcare, education and work, by Christine Skinner, explores how working mothers rely on informal help from neighbours, family and friends as well as formal support from nannies, childminders, childminders' husbands and out-of-school clubs to transport children between different settings at different times of day.
The private nurseries and school nurseries covered by the research provided no help with transport.
The report is based on a small-scale study of a group of 40 mothers, including 12 without jobs, living in two areas of a medium-sized English city. It suggests that it is not necessarily a lack of childcare that deters mothers from working, but the complexity of synchronising care and pre-school or primary education with work commitments.
The mothers surveyed identified childcare costs as a barrier to employment, but the study found that time costs were equally, if not more, important.
It also found that full-time working mothers had the least complex arrangements and part-time working mothers the most complex.
The report, published by the Policy Press with support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, recommends tackling the lack of co-ordination between pre-school education and childcare, dealing with the culture of long working hours and recognising parents' and children's need for efficient transport services.
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