The government announced a delay in the introduction of a single funding formula for the provision of free childcare in local authority areas in England, involving a redistribution of funding from state-run to privately owned nurseries. The new formula would be delayed until April 2011 because of a lack of preparedness by local authorities.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 10 December 2009, columns 25-26WS, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | NASUWT press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government said that, from April 2011, new recipients of childcare vouchers would only receive tax relief at the basic income tax rate – contrary to a previous announcement that all tax relief would be withdrawn.
Source: Letter from Gordon Brown MP (Prime Minister) to Roberta Blackman Woods MP and Fiona Mactaggart MP, 4 December 2009, 10 Downing Street
Links: Downing Street press release | Daycare Trust press release | NDNA press release | PSLA press release | Children & Young People Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report reviewed the 'Childcare Affordability Programme' pilot – a London-based pilot programme designed to pioneer a range of different approaches to make childcare more affordable to lower-income families.
Source: SQW Consulting, Childcare Affordability Programme 2005: Pilot Review, Research Report RR174, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report said that full daycare and sessional settings needed substantial extra investment to enable them to meet the requirements in the high-quality model of childcare. Spending on childcare needed to more than double, from the existing £4.4 billion to £9.4bn, taking spending up to approximately 1 per cent of national income. The free childcare entitlement needed to be increased to 20 hours per week for children aged 3-4 and 15 hours for those aged 2.
Source: Kate Goddard and Emma Knights, Quality Costs: Paying for high quality early childhood education and care, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350)
Links: Summary | Daycare Trust press release | Nuffield Foundation press release
Date: 2009-Nov
The Prime Minister announced that childcare vouchers would lose tax and national insurance contribution relief by 2015, with the money instead being used to provide free nursery places for 250,000 two-year-olds.
Source: Speech by Gordon Brown MP (Prime Minister), 29 September 2009
Links: Text of speech | Daycare Trust press release | PSLA press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Sep
A report examined efforts to increase the take-up of formal childcare by lower-income families in England.
Source: Isabelle Gregory, Childcare Take Up and National Indicator 118: A summary of learning funded by Government Regional Offices 08/09 across England, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350) and Government Office for London
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Aug
Researchers examined parents' childcare arrangements, and their views of both particular childcare providers and childcare provision in general. Use of formal childcare and early years provision in term-time had increased in 2008 compared with 2007, largely due to a greater take-up of out-of-school services.
Source: Svetlana Speight, Ruth Smith, Ivana La Valle, Vera Schneider and Jane Perry with Cathy Coshall and Sarah Tipping, Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2008, Research Report RR136, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Brief | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Jul
A paper called for a central fund to be established which local authorities could draw on if their provision of childcare places was at risk during the economic recession.
Source: Joe Caluori, Childcare and the Recession, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350)
Links: Summary | Daycare Trust press release | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report examined the difficulties faced by students with children.
Source: Meet the Parents: The experience of students with children in further and higher education, National Union of Students (0871 221 8221)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A £75 million scheme was launched offering childcare support to 50,000 eligible parents in England while they trained or learned, to help them into employment. The scheme was open to families with: one partner in work; an annual household income of £20,000 or less per year; and a child or children aged 14 or under (18 or under for children with disabilities).
Source: Press release 12 May 2009, Learning and Skills Council (0870 900 6800)
Links: LSC press release
Date: 2009-May
An article examined how different forms of childcare at an early age played a role in the production of cognitive skills and the behavioural development of young children (measured at age 3). The results showed that formal group care was positively associated with school readiness test scores. But no association was found between formal group care and problem behaviour. Grandparent care was shown to be positively associated with vocabulary test scores: but also positively related to problem behavioural scores.
Source: Kirstine Hansen and Denise Hawkes, 'Early childcare and child development', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 38 Issue 2
Links: Abstract | CLS press release | IOE press release | Voice press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report examined activity indicators, market trends, and market projections for the children's nurseries sector. The market was held back in 2008 by a small fall in net nursery capacity (down 1 per cent) – the first contraction in capacity on record.
Source: Children's Nurseries UK Market Report 2009, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: Summary | L&B press release
Date: 2009-Apr
The government announced (in the 2009 Budget) that people who gave up work in order to provide childcare for their grandchildren would be able to claim national insurance credits towards the basic state pension.
Source: Budget 2009: Building Britain's future, HC 407, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | HMT press release | Carers UK press release | NCB press release | PSLA press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report evaluated a fund in Scotland designed to invest in initiatives to improve the employability of disadvantaged parents facing barriers, particularly childcare barriers, to participating in the labour market. The fund was found to have been effective in moving a substantial number of disadvantaged parents into or towards work, education, or training.
Source: Ronald McQuaid et al., Evaluation of the Working for Families Fund (2004-2008), Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Apr
Researchers examined the packages of childcare that families put together, how different types of formal and informal childcare were combined, the reasons for using different types of provision, and how much time children spent in non-parental care. For younger children, the study also explored the relationship between childcare use and the learning activities parents and children did together.
Source: Ruth Smith, Svetlana Speight and Ivana La Valle, Fitting It All Together: How families arrange their childcare and the influence on children's home learning, Research Report RR090, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report used data from the first three waves of the Growing Up in Scotland study to explore families' experiences of using childcare for children under the age of 5. Use of multiple providers over time was fairly common. Children's experience of non-parental childcare in the early years appeared to be generally beneficial to their cognitive development.
Source: Paul Bradshaw and Fran Wasoff, Growing Up in Scotland: Multiple Childcare Provision and its Effect on Child Outcomes, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2009-Mar
A report said that grandparents should be given tax credits for providing childcare for newborn grandchildren, and those in work should be given 'granny leave' for two weeks.
Source: Rethinking Family Life: Exploring the role of grandparents and the wider family, Grandparents Plus (020 8981 8001)
Links: Report | Grandparents Plus press release | Daycare Trust press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report evaluated the extended flexible entitlement pathfinder (introduced as part of the government's commitment to increasing the length and flexibility of the free early years entitlement for children aged 3-4 from 12.5 to 15 hours per week over 38 weeks by September 2010). Parents were overwhelmingly positive about the impact on their child resulting from the time they spent in early years education and care.
Source: Charlotte Clarke, Michael Frearson, Kate Hills, Claire Celia and Christine Stephen, Extended Flexible Entitlement for Three-and Four Year Olds: Pathfinder Evaluation, Research Report RR080, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report | Annexes | Brief
Date: 2009-Feb
An article examined what the government's childcare strategy had achieved since its launch in 1998, and what remained to be done to meet its key aim of providing good-quality childcare for all parents who needed it and all children who could benefit from it.
Source: Ivana La Valle, 'Good quality childcare for all? Progress towards universal provision', National Institute Economic Review Volume 207 Number 1, National Institute for Economic and Social Research (020 7654 1901)
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Feb
A survey found that 55 per cent of parents wanted a male childcare worker for their nursery-aged children, with two-thirds (66 per cent) of lone parent mothers saying that they would like a man involved in the care and development of their young children.
Source: Press release 20 January 2009, Children's Workforce Development Council (0113 244 6311)
Links: CWDC press release | Daycare Trust press release | Voice press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jan
An annual survey found above-inflation increases in 2008 in costs for pre-school childcare in England and Scotland, and for out-of-school care in Scotland and Wales.
Source: Childcare Costs Survey 2009, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350)
Links: Report | Daycare Trust press release | NDNA press release | PSLA press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jan
The government published a strategy document designed to further improve the quality, affordability, and flexibility of childcare and early learning. It included commitments to: consider making it a legal requirement that every childcare professional was qualified to A-level equivalent standard; enable parents to extend the free childcare offer to cover holidays; pilot a programme to attract the best graduates into the sector; and develop a price-comparison website to help parents find the best-quality childcare in their area to suit their budget.
Source: Next Steps for Early Learning and Childcare: Building on the 10-year strategy, Department for Children, Schools and Families (0845 602 2260) and other departments
Links: Strategy | Summary | Hansard | DCSF press release | NDNA press release | PSLA press release | Daycare Trust press release | Voice press release | EDCM press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Jan