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Childcare is 'harmful for the very young'
Last updated at 14:52pm on 26.09.06
Children's Minister Beverley Hughes says putting youngsters in childcare is not in their best interest.
Government minister Beverley Hughes sparked a row today after she said that putting very young children in childcare is not in their best interests.
The remarks by the Children's Minister are likely to unleash a fresh debate about the effect — and possible harm — on children of putting them in nurseries rather than parents staying at home to look after them.
Speaking at a conference fringe meeting, she called for more flexibility in the workplace to give families more options on looking after children and stressed that fathers needed to play a greater role.
"I don't think we can square the circle unless fathers are equally and practically involved in the sharing of care and the work that families have to undertake," she added. "I'm concerned that unless we do focus on fathers, then women going out to work, kids in childcare, sometimes very young children, for whom I don't think that's the best option frankly, those choices aren't available."
Concerns are growing about the effect of childcare on babies and toddlers as the number who spend most of each working day in nurseries has risen by nearly a third in five years.
More than 700,000 children are at a nursery for more than four hours a day. More than half of mothers with children under two now work fulltime or part-time.
One in five of the children in full-time nursery care is under the age of two and more than four out of 10 are under three.
Some sociologists believe that sending young children to a nursery fulltime can make them more aggressive and hinder their academic progress.
Shadow children's minister Tim Loughton hit out at the Government over its childcare policies, accusing it of "forcing" parents back to work as quickly as possible after the birth of a child through the tax credit system.
He added: "Now we have the Children's Minister questioning whether that's in the best interest of children. Parents will be confused and quite rightly outraged at these conflicting messages."
The Daycare Trust, which represents parents and families on childcare issues, argued that evidence so far showed children are only at possible risk of being adversely affected if they were in childcare full-time, if it was a group setting, and that the nursery was of poor standard.
Daycare's chief executive Emma Knights added: "Some parents will agree with the minister, others will strongly disagree and believe the childcare they have chosen for their children is very good.
"Parents don't choose their childcare arrangements lightly. It's the most important decision you make as a parent. We would not want parents to feel guilty as a result of these decisions."
At the fringe meeting, Ms Hughes later appeared to backtrack on her comments when asked to expand on them. She said: "I emphatically was not saying that children under two shouldn't be left in childcare or that fathers need to be better dads.
"I was picking up on some research that suggests that certainly for younger children under that age, what parents want is more options that enable them to be the people who are looking after their kids if that's what they want."
Mother-of-three Ms Hughes added that 25 years ago she and her husband, then a middle manager in a Social Services department, both worked part-time for eight years to bring up their children jointly.
"I just don't need any convincing about, for us, the benefits that gave to him but also to the children," she added.
"I would just like more people to have that kind of flexibility about who does what. I think more fathers are up for it, actually, now in this generation."
Reader views (3)
Danraj your comments make no reply to my message. If you had read what I said you would see that my mortgage payments are jst £260 per month. The going rent for the same property is £850. This is NOTHING to do with Thatcher. The influx of immigrants has caused a housing demand that is off any predicted scale. Immigrants are responsible for the rising cost of housing and ONLY new Labour can be blamed for that.
- Jane Bewick, London
It was the Tories that pushed up interest rates and brought in the right to buy; we have house prices shooting through the roof and most of your income goes on paying the mortgage. Blame Thatcher not Blair.
- Dhanraj, Basildon
I am sick and tired of the double standards of the Labour Party. Working Tax Credit was set up to encourage mothers back into full time work. Nursery fees are prohibitively high without this top-up from the state, yet in order to receive an amount close enough to cover the fees one has to work full time, it does not cover part time work. I am a single mother, I own my home yet as home owners cannot claim housing benefit to cover mortgage payments during maternity leave I was forced back into full time work when my child was 4 month old. If it is detremental to the welfare of the child to be in full time nursery from such a young age why couldn't I claim £260 per month to cover my mortgage, had I have been renting the same flat I would have easilly claimed £850 per month, the going rate for a private rental for the same property. The system works against those of us that help ourselves. Only the skivers benefit from anything. The next generation will be led by people who's mothers instilled a good work ethic by example but with personality disorders due to being in the care of strangers.
- Jane Bewick, London UK
