childcare matters
DESCRIPTION
Childcare Matters. What the public thinks about childcare in Northern Ireland. Overview. Background Research design Views on childcare policy Public image of childcare Searching for and using childcare Review of key points Concluding comments. Background. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Childcare Matters
What the public thinks about childcare in Northern
Ireland
Overview
• Background• Research design• Views on childcare policy• Public image of childcare• Searching for and using childcare• Review of key points• Concluding comments
Background
• £4bn Sure Start, early years and childcare investment in England
• €575 million childcare investment in Republic
• 2003 – NI childcare study, partly commissioned by DEL
Research design
• Ipsos MORI survey
• 1,024 adults questioned
• part of Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey
• face-to-face interviews carried out in Nov and Dec 2007
Views on childcare policy
Figure 1: "Good quality, affordable childcare should be priority for NI Executive"
Base: all respondents (1,024)
7%5% 1% 5%
45%
38%
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree/ disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Don't know /not sure
The public image of childcare
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
%
Childminders
Nurseries
Figure 2: perceptions of quality of nurseries and childmindingBase: all respondents (1,024)
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor
Don't know /not sure
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
%
Childminders
Nurseries
Figure 3: perceptions of quality of nurseries and childmindingBase: all parents (318)
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor
Don't know /not sure
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
%
Parents w ho had soughtchildcare
Parents using childcare
All parents
Figure 4: perceptions of quality of childminding
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor
Don't know /not sure
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
%
Parents w ho had soughtchildcare
Parents using childcare
All parents
Figure 5: perceptions of quality of nurseries
Very good
Good
Satisfactory
Poor
Very poor
Don't know /not sure
Searching for and using
childcare
Who uses childcare?
• 37% of all parents
• 41% of working parents
• 31% of non-working parents
• 44% of ABC1 parents
• 32% of C2DE parents
Figure 6: Ease of search for childcareBase: parents who looked for childcare in previous 3 years (95)
13%
17%1% 3%
41%
26%
Very easy
Fairly easy
Fairly dif f icult
Very diff icult
Unsuccessful
Don't know /not stated
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
%
Cost
Convenience
Known person
Quality
Figure 7: Factors in looking for childcareBase: all parents (318)
All
ABC1
C2DE
Preferred method of findingchildcare
• Word of mouth recommendation – 74%
• Phoning childcare information organisation – 11%
• Using adverts in papers or shops– 4%
• Using internet – 1%
Key points
• 83% thought the Northern Ireland Executive should give priority to the provision of good quality, affordable childcare
• 30% of parents who had recently looked for childcare said they had found their search ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ difficult –
• 52% of parents said quality of care was important factor
• nurseries viewed more favourably than childminders in terms of perceived quality of care they were perceived as providing
• strong preference for care provided by someone who knows the child
• word of mouth recommendation was by far the most favoured method of finding childcare
Childcare Matters
What the public thinks about childcare in Northern
Ireland