New research reveals gaps in childcare for parents of disabled children
As the summer holidays end, a new survey has revealed gaps in childcare for parents of disabled children – impacting work for 90 per cent of parents.
Working Families survey of parents of disabled children this summer reveals the high costs and difficulties in finding suitable childcare which have a serious knock-on effect on parents’ work. Ninety per cent of parents responding said that they had to change their hours, take unpaid leave, request flexible working or make other changes to meet the need for care for their disabled child – four per cent of parents reported that they had left their job due to childcare needs over the summer.
The survey of 182 parents revealed:
• A third of parents of disabled children were not working, although almost 80 per cent of these would like to be in paid work.
• 79 per cent said childcare was a factor stopping them working
Of the two thirds in work:
• Half of those in work responding said that their childcare cost extra because their child was disabled with 62 per cent of these paying an extra £5 or more an hour.
• Over 80 per cent responding said their summer care arrangements were a compromise with the vast majority relying on friends and family to fill the gaps in care.
• Only 10 per cent of families said that holiday childcare had no impact on their working lives. 41 per cent had changed hours, 31 per cent took unpaid leave, 28 per cent made a flexible working request and 4 per cent left their jobs because of care difficulties (some parents reported more than one change was needed).
• The one thing that would make the most difference with summer holiday childcare was affordability – 30 per cent of parents raised this as the over-riding concern. (This compares with10 per cent raising it as the main concern in our 2009 survey).
• Parents told us: “It’s a nightmare, not understood by others”; “For children with very complex needs there is no suitable care available”; “I can’t drop three children in different places at the same time”; “childcare prices cripple my family”.
Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of Working Families commented:
“Our survey reveals the difficulties parents of disabled children face in juggling work and summer holiday childcare. Parents are compromising, adapting their working hours, and paying over the odds for expensive childcare. It shouldn’t be this way – all parents should be able to find appropriate, accessible, affordable childcare – but many parents are paying an extra penalty for the cost of caring for a disabled child. What is most disappointing is that so little has changed since our last survey four years ago.
“Our findings show gaps in childcare provision which service providers should heed. Seventy per cent of parents not working reported that the available childcare is not specialist enough for the needs of disabled children, and two thirds of parents who sought help from their Family Information Services found they were not able to help.
“As the Government consults on making childcare more affordable for parents, it must consider the plight of parents of disabled children. We don’t think parents should be charged more, simply because their child is disabled – but they clearly are – and these extra costs are not recognised in tax credit (which pays a maximum of 70 per cent of £175 for one child or £300 for two or more children) or voucher support for parents. One parent told us she could only find two weeks of care for her son this summer at £350 per week.
“There are clear messages here for employers too – with a fifth of parents reporting concerns about the need for employers to be more flexible about leave taking. Until we solve the problems of childcare then allowing parents to take leave, or change their working hours to cope with the summer holidays is vital to keep parents in work and out of poverty.”
A full copy of the report is available from Working Families here:
Download pdf of report.
Emma Scowcroft, Policy Manager at Action for Children responds to the Working Families survey highlighting the gaps in childcare for disabled children:
“These findings act as a reminder of the barriers that disabled children and their parents continue to face. Sadly, access to childcare is another example of where disabled children do not have the same opportunities as their peers to be fully included in their own communities.
“We are currently working in partnership with the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY), OPM and I CAN to improve child minders’ skills and their ability to work more effectively with disabled children in a number of areas across with the country where there is currently insufficient support.
“This initiative which is being run through our children’s centres, will provide families with the vital support they need whilst also allowing them to access suitable high quality childcare from trained professionals. More importantly it will enable more disabled children to have the opportunity to gain new experiences and interact with other children, which is essential for their development.”
