Researchers examined the initial impacts of employer-supported childcare measures. Among all employers, only 30 per cent were aware of the new tax and national insurance exemptions: nonetheless, the exemptions were found have had an important impact on the take-up of childcare vouchers.
Source: Anne Kazimirski, Ruth Smith, Elvira Mogensen and Francesca Lemetti, Monitoring of the Reform of the Income Tax and National Insurance Rules for Employer-Supported Childcare: A study of provision and experiences of employers, Research Report 23, HM Revenue & Customs (020 7438 6420)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
An article reported a study which examined the potential of a state subsidy to be extended to support informal childcare. Care was found to be negotiated differently depending on whether it was provided by a grandparent or other family and friends. Lone parents tended to favour paying for childcare provided by family and friends other than grandparents.
Source: Christine Skinner and Naomi Finch, 'Lone parents and informal childcare: a tax credit childcare subsidy?', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 40 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Dec
A report outlined a plan designed to ensure that 70 per cent of the early years workforce could become qualified to Level 3 by 2010.
Source: Strategies and Targets for Raising the Proportion of the Early Years Workforce with Level 3 Qualifications, Children's Workforce Development Council (0113 244 6311)
Links: Report | CWDC press release | NDNA press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A report said that, despite considerable progress by the government, childcare remained expensive and out of reach for too many low-income families - including lone parents and families with disabled children - due to the lack of sustainable places in their communities and the large contribution parents needed to make to childcare, even after help with costs.
Source: Childcare Today: A progress report on the government s ten year childcare strategy, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350)
Links: Daycare Trust press release
Date: 2006-Nov
A report examined the key problems facing the childcare sector in Northern Ireland. It made a series of recommendations designed to ensure that all families in Northern Ireland had access to high quality, affordable childcare.
Source: Childcare That Works, Concordia (028 8778 8242)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Oct
A paper examined the effect of pre-primary education on children's subsequent school outcomes. Small gains were found from pre-school attendance at early ages, that magnified as children grew up. By age 16, children who had attended pre-school had accumulated more than 1 extra year of education and were 27 percentage points more likely to be in school compared to their siblings with no pre-school education.
Source: Samuel Berlinski, Sebastian Galiani and Marco Manacorda, Giving Children a Better Start: Preschool attendance and school-age profiles, Working Paper W06/18, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that it was not financially viable for a significant number of private and voluntary nurseries to make the new statutory entitlement to early years provision free at the point of delivery.
Source: The Free Entitlement and the Real Cost of Childcare in Day Nurseries, National Day Nurseries Association (0870 774 4244)
Links: NDNA press release | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Sep
The education inspectorate said that most of the 1,100 childcare providers that had been judged to be inadequate between April 2005 and June 2006 had improved by the time they were inspected again. But 180 resigned their registrations, and 11 had them cancelled.
Source: Making a Difference: How Ofsted inspections improved inadequate care for children, HMI 2660, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | NDNA press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
A new campaign group said that the government s national childcare strategy was failing disabled children, with provision 'neither fit for purpose nor affordable'. Although the Childcare Act 2006 placed a duty on local councils to provide childcare for disabled children, this would mean nothing without extra government funding.
Source: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Every Disabled Child Matters (020 7843 6448)
Links: Briefing | EDCM press release | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Sep
In January 2006, 96 per cent of children in England at age 3 benefited from some free early education (in maintained schools, the private or voluntary sector, or at private schools). This was a further increase on the 2004 figure of 93 per cent, when the free entitlement was first extended to children aged 3. Figures for January 2006 showed that all children aged 4 received some form of free entitlement.
Source: Provision for Children Under Five Years of Age in England: January 2006 (Final), Statistical First Release 32/2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR
Date: 2006-Aug
The education inspectorate said that 97 per cent of childcare providers were considered satisfactory or better at keeping children safe from harm.
Source: Early Years: Safe and Sound, HMI 2663, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | PSA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Aug
Four linked reports examined children s services markets - children s homes and fostering provision; positive activities for young people; childcare; and parental and family support services. The overall findings painted a picture of failure, both in terms of councils meeting the needs of children/young people/parents, and in terms of achieving value for money. Encouraging the development of regional commissioning, and rationalizing central government funding streams, could help improve the development of these markets.
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Overarching Report on Children s Services Markets, Research Report RW76, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | PricewaterhouseCoopers, Children s Homes and Fostering, Research Report RW74, Department for Education and Skills | PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Market for Parental & Family Support Services, Research Report RW72, Department for Education and Skills | PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Childcare Market, Research Report RW73, Department for Education and Skills | PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Market for Provision of Positive Activities for Young People, Research Report RW75, Department for Education and Skills
Links: RW76 | RW74 | RW72 | RW73 | RW75 | NDNA press release | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Aug
A review report examined the early years and childcare workforce in Scotland. The Scottish Executive responded by announcing new arrangements for training, career progression, and professional recognition.
Source: National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce: Report and Consultation, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283) | , Investing in Children s Futures: National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce - Scottish Executive response, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop
Links: Review report | SE response | SE press release
Date: 2006-Aug
The Childcare Act 2006 was given Royal assent. The Act placed a duty on local authorities to provide sufficient local childcare to meet the needs of working mothers and fathers, or those that wanted to return to work.
Source: Childcare Act 2006, Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | DfES press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report said that black and minority ethnic families faced barriers to using childcare including cost, lack of flexibility, and access to information.
Source: Ensuring Equality: Black and minority ethnic families' views on childcare, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350)
Links: Daycare Trust press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the contribution that childcare might make to ending child poverty. Childcare provision had an indirect impact on child poverty through enabling parents to work. There might also be longer-term benefits in breaking the cycle of poverty and deprivation.
Source: Christine Skinner, How Can Childcare Help to End Child Poverty?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that the out-of-school childcare market was worth an estimated 395 million in 2005, with term-time provision generating 265 million in income, and school holiday provision generating 130 million. The market had grown rapidly in the previous 10-15 years, and was worth five times as much as in the early 1990s.
Source: Philip Blackburn, Out Of School Childcare: UK Market Report 2006, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: L&B press release | Table of contents | 4Children press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A think-tank report said that childcare for low-income families needed a further 2 billion per year in government spending to ensure the target of halving child poverty by 2010 was met. Tax credits for childcare should be made available to a further 4.7 million recipients of child tax credit, and not just those in employment receiving the working tax credit. The existing system did not give enough help to lone-parent families, those living in households where no parent worked, or children in large families.
Source: Kate Stanley, Kate Bellamy and Graeme Cooke, Equal Access? Affordable and appropriate childcare for every child, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | CPAG press release | FT report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report presented findings from the Scottish Household Survey childcare questions. It examined differences in childcare arrangements, satisfaction with childcare and reasons for using childcare in relation to demographic characteristics of households; and whether satisfaction with childcare varied with the type of childcare provider used.
Source: TNS System Three Social Research, Scottish Household Survey Analytical Topic Report 2006: Childcare Module, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Date: 2006-Jun
An article said that it would make good economic sense for the government to fully fund nursery places for low-income families. Only 18 months after being offered a full-time nursery place, parents in one of the poorest parts of the country were found to be more likely to be in paid employment, with their children developing normally and in good health.
Source: R. Mujica Mota, P. Lorgelly, M. Mugford, T. Toroyan, A. Oakley, G. Laing and I. Roberts, 'Out-of-home day care for families living in a disadvantaged area of London: economic evaluation alongside a RCT', Child: Care, Health and Development, Volume 32 Number 3
Links: Abstract | LSHTM press release
Date: 2006-May
A report said that after-school clubs could often be more about 'crowd control' than giving children stimulating play opportunities.
Source: Anna Lundvigsen, More School Less Play? The role of play in the extended school in Denmark and England, Barnardo?s (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Children Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
A report said that staff working within the three childcare group settings (full day care, sessional, and out-of-school settings) were increasingly well qualified. The number of places in full daycare settings in England had increased from 431,600 in 2003 to 511,000 in 2005, and the number of full day care providers had increased from 7,800 in 2001 to 11,811 in 2005. The number of out-of-school places had increased from 286,800 in 2003 to 309,870. But one-fifth of full daycare providers were operating at a loss.
Source: Sam Clemens, Anna Ullman and Robert Kinnaird, 2005 Childcare and Early Years Providers: Overview report, Research Report 764, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | DfES press release | Children Now report
Date: 2006-May
A report examined the quality of childminding in Scotland. It painted a generally upbeat portrait of dedicated carers, high quality services, and satisfied parents: but areas were identified where some services could improve.
Source: Review of the Quality of Childminding 2006, Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Date: 2006-May
The government published an action plan for its ten-year childcare strategy, covering the childcare, early years, and extended schools services available to parents. From April 2006 the weekly free entitlement of 12.5 hours early education and childcare for children aged 3-4 would be extended from 33 to 38 weeks per year: this would align it with the school term, in order to help parents with older children who were already at school.
Source: Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: Making it happen, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Action plan | DfES press release | TES report | NDNA press release | PSA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
The government said that it wanted to achieve an increase in the proportion of children reaching a good level of development at age five, from 48 per cent to 53 per cent by 2008 - equivalent to an extra 30,000 children.
Source: Speech by Ruth Kelly MP (Secretary of State for Education and Skills), 26 April 2006
Links: Text of speech | TES report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
The education inspectorate said that most childcare centres understood healthy eating and provided nutritious and balanced food for young children.
Source: Food for Thought: A survey of healthy eating in registered childcare, HMI 2548, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | NDNA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
The Childcare Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to provide sufficient local childcare to meet the needs of working mothers and fathers, or those that wanted to return to work.
Source: Childcare Bill, Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 9 March 2006, columns 971-1038, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2006-Mar
A new book examined how, in the previous ten years, the number of babies and toddlers under three who were spending all day (8am to 6pm) in nurseries had quadrupled. It said that the hurried and disconnected way that families lived their lives could be damaging to a whole new generation's mental stability and development.
Source: Steve Biddulph, Raising Babies: Should under 3s go to nursery?, HarperCollins (020 8741 7070)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined evidence from longitudinal studies of centre-based early childhood interventions. The evidence was inconclusive.
Source: Helen Penn et al., Early Years: What is known about the long-term economic impact of centre-based early childhood interventions?, EPPI-Centre/Social Science Research Unit/Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined parents use, views and experiences of childcare and early years provision. 86 per cent of families had used some form of childcare or early years provision either regular or ad hoc - within the last year.
Source: Caroline Bryson, Anne Kazimirski and Helen Southwood, Childcare and Early Years Provision: A Study of Parents Use, Views and Experience, Research Report 723, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined parents use, views and experiences of childcare and early years provision in Wales.
Source: Caroline Bryson, Anne Kazimirski, Helen Southwood, Childcare and Early Years Provision in Wales: A study of parents use, views and experiences, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 6379)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report said that the children s day nursery market was worth 3.4 billion in 2005, up 8 per cent on the previous year.
Source: Children s Nurseries 2006, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: L&B press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A survey found that childcare bills had increased by 27 per cent in five years, with some parents paying more than 20,000 per annum for full-time care.
Source: Press release 8 February 2006, <:Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350)
Links: Daycare Trust press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Feb
A report said that government policies could result in working parents losing access to free childcare, because of a failure to regulate the market and set limits on state facilities. Heavily subsidized state provision could make it uneconomic for the private and voluntary sectors to stay in the market, leading to a net loss of places and actually reducing parent choice.
Source: Children First: The power of choice in children's services, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: Report | CBI press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A report called for an overarching review of the children s workforce in Scotland.
Source: Bronwen Cohen and Jim McCormick, Working for the Future: Re-imagining the children's workforce, Scottish Council Foundation (0131 225 4709), Children in Scotland, and International Futures Forum
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Feb
The government announced (following consultation) measures to improve the childcare and early years workforce. It said that it would build an integrated qualifications framework, and use a 'transformation fund' of 250 million to stimulate the supply of early years professionals and provide other developmental incentives.
Source: Children s Workforce Strategy: Building a world-class workforce for children, young people and families - The government s response to the consultation, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation response | DfES press release | GTCE press release | SFC press release | Daycare Trust press release | NDNA press release | PSLA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Feb
A report called for government to embed childcare as a long-term political priority, and double government spending on childcare to 1 per cent of national income within five years.
Source: Graeme Cooke, Realising the Childcare Revolution, 4Children (formerly Kids Clubs Network) (020 7512 2100)
Links: Report | 4C press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A report examined the role of childcare policies in ending child poverty by 2020. With further improvements, childcare policy could continue to play a key role not just in reducing poverty for existing children, but also in improving outcomes and preventing poverty for the next generation.
Source: Jane Waldfogel and Alison Garnham, Childcare and Child Poverty, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2006-Jan
A study found that more than 1 in 3 grandparent carers (38 per cent) looking after children were living below the poverty line and 'struggling to cope'.
Source: Oonagh Murphy-Jack and Rachel Smethers, Recognition, Respect, Reward, Grandparents Plus (020 8981 8001)
Links: Report | Grandparents Plus press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A profile of the nanny workforce in England was published. There were an estimated 30, 000 nannies working in England, of whom 99 per cent were female. 82 per cent of nannies surveyed had an early learning and childcare-related qualification. Nearly half (47 per cent) of nannies reported working in excess of 43 hours per week, and 34 per cent said that they worked over 50 hours per week.
Source: Social Issues Research Centre, The Composition, Needs and Aspirations of the Nanny Workforce in England, Children's Workforce Development Council (0113 244 6311)
Links: Report | CWDC press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A series of articles examined the issue of employment and childcare.
Source: National Institute Economic Review 195, January 2006, National Institute for Economic and Social Research (020 7654 1901)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
The government asked the childcare inspectorate to treat, with immediate effect, all childcare arrangements made between friends with no financial reward and of mutual aid as beyond regulated childcare and therefore without requirement for regulation and registration. It also announced that it was setting in train the process required to clarify the relevant legislation to exempt from registration reciprocal childcare arrangements between friends.
Source: Letter from Ed Balls MP (Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families), 12 October 2009
Links: Text of letter | DCSF press release | Daycare Trust press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan