Good afternoon everyone,
thank you again to everyone for your support and in particular to all those who filled in our Early Years survey.
Active members of the campaign group have attained press coverage for North Lanarkshire Council ELC issues on STV. This aired on 18th September at 6pm. Follow on reports about impact of ELC challenges on parents and on children with special needs are in the pipeline. Fingers crossed.
It has been more challenging to get the results and press release picked up by newspapers. We continue to approach press. If anyone has PR or media experience we would love to hear from you.
In the meantime I share the results with you here. It is a sad picture but that is why we are campaigning. Please share these findings widely.
Remember that you can join the UsForThem Scotland Early Years FB campaign group here.
Survey results
Over the last 3 weeks, 687 families responded to our Survey for families with children aged 0-5 in Scotland: Impact of pandemic measures on children, families and ELC provision.
ACCESS TO ELC CARE:
1 in 4 children (25%) still do not have access to the learning their parents wanted for them and the ELC care that they need for their employment due to reduced capacities and reduced hours in settings, restrictions on wraparound care and blended settings, inflexibility of hours provided, inflexibility of drop off and pick up times etc.
1 in 14 children (7%) have no access to ELC care at all when they need it and have tried to find it. They are missing out on learning, socialising, development and their parents on work and valuable family income.
The reasons for not finding or getting an ELC place for children are varied: 17.9% of those affected have been promised a place pre pandemic but it has not been confirmed after, 14.3% have found no availability in their area, 19.6% are on a waiting list, 8.9% have no provision as a result of guidelines, 23.2% have lost access to ELC care due to revised availability, for the remainder their care setting has closed doors, not opened yet or doesn’t know if and when they will reopen.
PARENT/CARER EMPLOYMENT AND FAMILY FINANCES:
1 in 3 parents/carers (29%) with children under age 5 continue to be affected by insufficient access to adequate and flexible ELC care. Employment continued to be negatively impacted by lack of access to adequate ELC care for 35% of women in comparison to 15% of men.
The impact was multifold:
40% of those affected continue to work their hours whilst looking after their child(ren) and working all hours of the day and night to achieve that;
22% have reduced their hours at work to care for their child(ren) and make up for unavailable childcare hours;
18.3% say Staggered drop offs and pick ups are not compatible with their working hours or work commitments/responsibilities;
11.76% state the days their child was offered/given are not the days they need for work;
13.73% have taken annual leave to cover for insufficient childcare provision;
12.42% are self-employed or run their own business and are unable to work;
12.4% feel that their job is threatened as their child(ren)'s childcare does not cover their working hours;
others are on full time or part time furlough or unpaid parental leave if furlough was denied;
1.96% have lost their jobs entirely.
45% of parents/carers state that their income has been affected as a result of insufficient ELC care. Of those affected for 45% income has reduced by 10-25%, for 23% it has reduced by 25-50%, for 11% by 50-75% and 17% have lost their income entirely.
1 in 5 affected (20%) say they are struggling to make ends meet, 1in4 (24%) have used savings to top up family income, 1 in 8 (12%) have had to borrow money from friends and family or through Credit cards.
PARENT/CARER WELLBEING:
1 in 3 (33%) say their wellbeing is impacted by insufficient access to ELC for their child. This affects almost double the women (35%) to men (18%).
The impacts on parent/carer wellbeing are several:
More than half of those impacted are concerned about their child(ren)’s wellbeing (59%), concerned for their child(ren)’s learning and education (67%), feel very stressed, feel anxious and struggle with not being able to plan ahead.
40-50% of those affected are concerned for their professional role/ career (41%), family income (40%), feel vulnerable in their employment (49%) due to limitations on what they can work or as a result of having to repeatedly ask for flexibility at work not compatible with their work commitments, have no time to recharge (48%), feel helpless as they don’t know how long this situation will continue (48%).
Others are concerned about loosing their employment altogether (22%), don’t know what their income will be month to month (15%), are not coping (8%) and say that their need for security and stability is not being met (22%).
ACCESS TO 1140 HOURS:
62% of children surveyed are eligible for funded hours. Of these 1 in 2 is not getting access to 1140 funded hours and this is despite the majority of respondents living or receiving childcare in Councils who committed to provide 1140 funded hours despite the government’s removal of the statutory deadline of August 2020.
35% of parents/carers state that they are affected by the removal of the statutory deadline for provision of 1140 funded hours. This has affected proportionately double the percentage of women (36%) to men (18%).
The impact has been as follows:
1 in 12 (8%) state that they cannot afford to return to work
1 in 3 (30%) state that they can still return to work but there is not much left over from their income.
1 in 8 (12%) state they has to reduce the number of working hours and the number of ELC care hours for their children
1 in 4 (27%) state income has been reduced by £250-500 per month as a result of their child not getting 1140 hours.
1 in 11 (9%) say their income has been affected by £500 or more.
CHILDREN’S WELLBEING:
How lockdown affected children's emotional and physical wellbeing and their learning and development.
55.2% of parents/carers felt that their children’s learning and development were negatively impacted during lockdown with 28 % neutral.
46.5 % of parents/carers felt that their children’s emotional wellbeing was negatively impacted by lockdown with 36% neutral.
Physical wellbeing was less affected with 28% negative impact, 49% neutral and the rest positive.
I hope you find these findings informative and perhaps you feel less alone in your or your family's struggles.
If you'd like to part take in the campaign please reach out through the FB group.
Best wishes to you all,
Lucie