Editor's View - Policies that put the child's needs first
Liz Roberts
Friday, April 5, 2013
Perhaps the most difficult subject of all for all of us involved in the early years sector is that of whether the youngest children should be in daycare at all.
After decades of struggle for women to have equal rights to work and to increase the availability of decent childcare, it is a particularly tricky area even to discuss, raising as it does feelings of guilt and deeply polarised opinions. And it is the business of so many dedicated and skilled providers in the early years sector.
This does not mean that we should just avoid the subject, however, as it needs to be considered as part of how we want early childhood services to develop in the future.
Sally Goddard Blythe is not afraid to look at the needs of the youngest children in her article 'First love' (pages 24-25), particularly as the latest government incentives to encourage mothers to return to work seem more driven by economics than ever.
Sally draws on research to show some findings about the effects of daycare on under-threes from the UK and abroad that should be taken seriously. As she says, the intent is not to 'heap guilt and anxiety on parents', but to stress the need for policies that take a longer view and place the needs of the child at their heart.
A similar message emerges from Professor Peter Moss and Dr Eva Lloyd in their analysis of the amount of GDP that is spent on early childhood services in England. Although they dispute OECD figures that put us near the top of the league, it is not a question just of spending more, but of spending differently on a system of early care and education that is integrated and comprehensive.
