Background to the Research

• In 2002, the Local Economy Policy Unit at South Bank University was commissioned to carry out a study of the supply and demand for childcare in NI. This report is a summary report of a much longer report submitted to the Equality Commission in March 2003. Selected elements from new, ongoing work by the authors are also included in this report.
  

Research Approach

• The purpose of the study was to review provision of childcare services in NI for children up to the age of 14. It also aimed to consider how gaps in childcare provision, or the cost of childcare, affects parents opportunity to take paid work, and to forecast the demands for childcare services.
• The research consisted of a postal survey of childcare providers, a postal survey and follow up phone calls of parents, an analysis of Labour Force Survey data on patterns of women's employment and earnings, and a comparison of information on childcare use from these and other national data sets.
  

Main Findings

• Childcare provision per thousand children is much lower in NI as a whole than in England, especially for under 5's. The shortage of childcare places is reflected in the extensive use of unregistered childminders.
• 42% of childminders charges are under 3; 30% of children in day nurseries are under 3; 53% of children in non-playgroup childcare are under 5, while 47% are 5 or more; and 82% of children placed in childcare are there because their parents are working.
• Unregistered paid childminders were the most frequently used type of formal childcare. This figure is actually strikingly high compared to a UK figure and to a 1992 NI figure.
• Professional, managerial mothers working full-time were the group with the highest percentage of use of formal childcare. Those not in paid work showed the lowest level of use of formal care, and when they did use formal care it was mainly in the form of playgroups.
• According to the parent's survey, about 1 in 5 of working parents' children under 5, and 28.9% of all under 12s, are looked after by an older sibling, other relative or friend.
• Informal care is often used as a supplement to formal care, and is especially used by parents with variable or non-standard hours. Informal care is shown to be more important in NI than in British studies.
• A full-time nursery place in NI costs on average £80.73 per week, compared to £120 in England. A full-time place with a childminder costs £74.80 in NI (£113 in England). An after-school place in NI costs £32.57 (only £26 in England).
• In the 12 months prior to the provider survey, childminders (if they raised their prices) did so by an average of 8%. Childcare establishments raised their prices by an average of 5.62%. Only 1 in 10 NI providers think that WFTC is pushing up prices.
• About 20% more childminders are needed to meet current levels of demand. While nurseries do have some vacancies, total waiting list numbers exceed total vacancies.
• Some establishments have both vacancies and waiting lists, indicating mismatch. Unmet types of demand include unsocial hours, variable hours to fit with shift work patterns, weekend and evening care, part-time care to complement playgroup provision, and sometimes services involving taking children to or from a playgroup or school.
• Providers expected demand over the next 12 months to increase, mostly for the under 3's.
• A number of sources provided evidence that WFTC is raising demand.
• Trends in supply suggested that provision is expanding in response to market demand, but too slowly to meet parent's needs.
• Providers considered low parental purchasing power, the need for subsidies and the expansion of pre-school places as barriers to expansion.
• Differences between Health Board areas found were, among other things, that: the North has the lowest hourly cost; the East has much less use of unregistered childminders, better provision levels and the highest hourly cost; the South has less use of registered childminders than average and less pressure on places; and the West has the highest use of unregistered childminders and a high excess demand for nurseries and after schools.
• Childcare provision has most effect on the employment of mothers of pre-school children.
• Although childcare is cheaper in NI than GB, earnings are lower too.
• Around half of the mothers who were not working would like to; and two thirds of these said childcare was a barrier to paid work. An overlapping 60% of those who would like a paid job said it was not financially worthwhile for them to work.
• Telephone interviews in NI revealed the major barriers to work as: living in a rural area; low earnings prospects; lack of help from WFTC; and the mother wanting to be a stay-at-home mother.
• Mothers' employment in NI is 'above trend', which is achieved by more help from partners, friends and relatives, and also unregistered childminders, than is found in studies of English parents.
• In some of the telephone interviews, parents revealed that, for both partners to keep their jobs, a complex juggling act of alternating working hours was necessary.
  

Conclusions

• The report ends by identifying required changes in childcare provision in NI, which include rises in childminding places, day nursery places and after school provision.
• On the issue of helping parents to reconcile family and work commitments, the following issues were suggested/raised: A workplace nursery, term time jobs, suitability/'career' part-time jobs, and family friendly arrangements for fathers.
• The role of government is identified as being:
  • To help parents find out about and make use of new statutory rights to parental leave;
  • To encourage parents to claim any Childcare Tax Credit to which they are entitled;
  • To encourage the registering of informal carers and childminders;
  • To assist childminders and day nurseries with start-up funding and other support;
  • The coordination of pre-school provision and other services;
  • To help parents in rural areas with special problems such as transport issues.