I wonder how many nurseries Steve Biddulph has visited in the UK recently? The image he is portraying, and his comments in media interviews to promote his book, do not correlate with the vast majority of UK nurseries.
He takes a biased view of the research available to us about childcare. He even refers to 'Penelope Leach's study' which, if he had visited the study's website, he would know has not even been finished or published yet.
The organisers of the study clarify that they have not made any recommendations about childcare.
In his book, he brands parents as 'slammers' or 'sliders' depending on what age they put their children into nursery. This branding of parents does nothing to help families make difficult childcare decisions. He also claims that parents are sending days-old babies to nurseries This is extremely rare in the UK, as most parents take benefit of maternity leave. The majority of parents have to work, so staying at home is not an option - and believe it or not, some women want to go out to work.
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