Single parents and childcare

Introduction

Childcare is a crucial element in single parent’s lives. For many, finding and sustaining paid work is dependent on the availability of good quality childcare that is affordable and available at the times when they need it.

The Government has made great strides in childcare and early education provision. The Childcare Act 2006, which built on the Government’s Ten Year Childcare Strategy, improved access to childcare for working parents and requires local authorities to assess the local childcare market and to ensure there is sufficient childcare for working parents.

The availability of free nursery places for three and four year olds has also enhanced parents’ access to childcare.

However, single parents face specific challenges around finding the right type of childcare to fit in with their hours of work.  They are more likely to work in jobs that are part-time and low paid and as a result are less likely to be able to be flexible around their childcare arrangements. 

Single parents do not have another parent in the same household to share caring responsibilities with so childcare arrangements must fit more closely around one parents’ working hours, rather than two, and must be paid for out of one wage.

This can limit the childcare options available as drop-off and collection times are often fixed, or expensive to adjust.

Finding appropriate childcare has become even more of an issue for single parents as recent changes to benefit rules mean that single parents with children aged over 10 who previously claimed Income Support, will now have to claim Jobseekers Allowance, and actively seek work,  although pressure from Gingerbread among others means that parents who cannot find a suitable childcare place cannot be compelled to take work.

From 2010, these rules will apply to single parents of children aged seven and over.

Gingerbread believes that there are currently three major challenges for childcare policy:

1. There still isn’t enough childcare for parents who need it;
2. Childcare is still too expensive for many single parents; and
3. There is a shortage of funding for childcare for single parents who are in training or in full-time education.

This paper discusses these challenges and possible solutions.