Quality childcare will 'depend on staffing'

Child Benefits: the importance of investing in quality childcare, published by the Daycare Trust and supported by the nursery chain Bright Horizons Family Solutions, says that 'staff turnover, retention and training issues pose great problems to developing a stable workforce that can really deliver on quality'.

The report adds, 'The desire to increase quality of care will not be met, even at the level of the minimum standards currently being applied, without addressing issues of the childcare and pre-school workforce.'

To back this up, the report refers to the US National Childcare Staffing Study, which showed that staff tended to provide better care when they had more formal education, more early childhood training at college, and higher wages.

The UK report, written by Professor Edward Melhuish of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues at the University of London, was launched to coincide with the start of National Childcare Week which runs until 20 June.

Professor Melhuish said that Effective Provision of Pre-school Education research had shown that pre-school experiences had 'clear developmental benefits' for children from two upwards, but that most provision began when children were three. But he noted that a recent Government initiative is setting up a pilot project to extend pre-school provision to disadvantaged two-year- olds.

A MORI poll conducted for National Childcare Week showed that 48 per cent of parents believe that the quality of childcare has improved in the last three years and 88 per cent of parents who use formal childcare are satisfied with its quality. Significantly, 54 per cent of parents believe that well-trained and rewarded staff are the most important factor in ensuring high-quality childcare provision.

Professor Melhuish referred to a longitudinal study of children aged nought to six in London which found that those with unstable childcare arrangements in the first three years showed poorer language development, which persisted until they were six.

Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust, said, 'The evidence is clear - quality matters. Quality childcare is good for children, good for parents and good for society. If we value children, we must value childcare.'

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said, 'The childcare workforce really matters. We need to invest in childcare staff and make sure they are highly valued and well-rewarded so that children get the best quality of care possible.'