Last week saw the IPPR publish two research
reports which may be of interest to PACEY members. A brief summary
of each is below. You can join the conversation about these reports
and your take on them at PACEY Local.
IPPR (2013) Who’s breadwinning? Working mothers and the new
face of family support
The report shows that one in three working mums are family
breadwinners, with maternal breadwinning the highest since records
began.
There are now more than 2 million working mums
who are the main family earner, a rise of over 80% in the last 15
years.
The report shows that maternal breadwinning
has increased for all family types, for all age groups and across
all income groups, over the last 15 years:
- mothers in couples breadwinning has
increased from 18% to 31%
- co-habiting mothers breadwinning has
doubled
- the employment rate of lone mothers
has increased from 43% to 58%
- maternal breadwinning among 16-26
year-olds has increased from 11% to 18%
- more than a third of mothers with a
degree-level qualification are breadwinning, an increase from
29%
- a quarter of mothers without degrees
are now breadwinning, compared to less than 20%
The research shows that it can no longer be
assumed that the dad is the primary breadwinner in a couple family.
As women’s employment outside the home rises, dual earner couples
are more common. Most families need two earners simply to make ends
meet, and increasingly women’s earnings are a necessity. A rise in
the employment rate of lone parents means that mothers in this
position provide the sole income for their family.
But despite more mothers than ever before now being the primary
breadwinner for their families, many mums still face significant
barriers to entering and remaining in work. These include a lack of
flexible work opportunities, the high cost of childcare, parental
leave entitlement focused on mothers and a lack of relationship
support. Although these challenges affect working dads, they have a
disproportionate affect on working mums, who are often still the
primary carers. Together with the gender pay gap, and in particular
the motherhood pay penalty that takes hold when women have
children, these barriers undermine the livelihood of many
families.
Download the full report.
IPPR (2013) Early developments: Bridging the gap between
evidence and policy in early-years education
This report, part of IPPR’s ‘Childcare: A strategic national
priority?’ project, reviews the evidence of both the benefits of
quality childcare, and the policies which have been successful in
improving standards in the UK and abroad. From this body of
knowledge it draws 10 lessons for UK policymakers on how our care
system can be improved, providing answers to vital questions such
as:
- Which aspects of early years education and
care provision should be prioritised, protected and reformed for
different preschool age groups which have very different
developmental needs.
- How graduates can improve the quality of
provision and outcomes for children, and how the qualification
levels of all early years professionals can be lifted.
- Where the priority areas are for any
additional funding: for example, greater access to high-quality
care for children from an early age is more important than
extending the hours that older preschool children spend in early
learning.
- Why Ofsted may not always be an accurate
judge or effective driver of quality in the early years.
- What kind of provision has the greatest
positive impact on child development.
It also sets out some concrete measures which
are easily implementable in the short term, but which could be of
great benefit to the next generation of children throughout their
lives. Government policy for early years education and care
should:
- prioritise qualifications and ratios to meet
age-related developmental priorities
- use funding mechanisms to boost uptake by the
most disadvantaged children in high-quality care settings
- ensure monitoring and assessment reflects
best developmental practice
- build the professional infrastructure,
and accountability and support structures, that is necessary to
drive quality.
Download the full report.