Stay-at-home dads on the up: one in seven fathers are main childcarers
Study by Aviva shows that more than a quarter of dads gave up work or reduced their hours after the birth of their children
A rise in the number of stay-at-home dads has been driven by growing numbers of women earning more than their partners. Photograph: Avatra Images/Alamy
There are now 10 times as many stay-at-home dads in the UK than a decade ago, with one in seven fathers (14%) now the main childcareprovider, according to research from Aviva. It says about 1.4 million men are now the primary carer in their households.
The study suggests that a quarter of families with children under 18 share childcare equally, up from 18% in 2010, while more than a quarter of dads (26%) gave up work or reduced their working hours after the birth of their children, and 44% regularly look after the children while their partner works.
Close to half of stay-at-home-dads (43%) told Aviva they felt "lucky" to have the opportunity to spend more time with their kids, but 46% of families said their decision allowed the main earner to keep working.
The trend for increasing numbers of stay-at-home dads has been driven by growing numbers of women earning more than their partner – a quarter of women said they now earn more than their children's father, while a further 16% said they earn roughly the same as their partner.
But men told Aviva they had had difficulties in assuming primary responsibility for children, with nearly one in five (17%) admitting it makes them feel "less of a man", 13% claiming they found looking after the children harder than going out to work, and 13% saying they wished they earned more than their partner so they could go back to work.
Louise Colley, head of protection marketing for Aviva, said: "It is really interesting to see how the responsibilities of parents are shifting. There is no longer a 'norm' for who does what in a family relationship, and it's great that many mums and dads are enjoying non-traditional roles.
"We know from our latest Family Finances report that the cost of childcare means many families feel it's not worthwhile both parents working – so it's no surprise to see more men taking up the reins.
"However, this also means that many families are relying on one salary, which can leave them financially vulnerable."
Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, said the survey failed to highlight the struggles facing many women who choose to return to work. "In our experience, women still pick up the bulk of the domestic duties in the house – even when both parents are working.
"It is great that men are getting more involved with the kids, but there's still a big divide on other activities with women doing more cooking, reading with kids, activity planning, and homework to name a few, which is why we see so many women still struggling to balance a successful career with family life."
Workplace nurseries feel the squeeze
For parents working unsocial hours, a workplace creche is an essential lifeline. But many are being closed as firms cut back
Many argue that the cost of workplace nurseries are more than offset by how they attract staff who stay with the employer.
In the workplace nursery at Goldsmiths, University of London, three very contented babies sit on the floor while their parents chat about combining work and parenthood. It's the babies' first day at the nursery, and manager Karen Roe has encouraged them to spend the morning settling their offspring into the new surroundings.
The new term has not started yet, and upstairs there are just four children: two are listening to a story and can't be interrupted, but Bethany and Mathias are cutting and pasting and keen to talk: three-year-old Mathias even writes out his name for me; he's obviously heard that Guardian journalists are often challenged when it comes to spelling. They are sitting next to a huge bowl of goldfish in a room freshly painted and decorated with pictures, letters and numbers.
Outside is a spacious playground, with climbing frame, toddler-sized seats and tables, and a separated-off section "for the babies, so they don't get trampled", says Roe. It is a clean, airy contrast to the traffic and bustle of New Cross, hardly one of London's most genteel suburbs.
The nursery's last Ofsted report, in February, would make most parents of pre-school children weep with envy. "Staff fully promote the unique needs of each child which has an exceptional impact on their learning and development," it states.
Which makes it all the more surprising that, before the summer, the Goldsmiths College nursery had been set for closure, before being taken over by the college's students' union.
At Royal Mail's Mount Pleasant sorting office in Farringdon, workers face a similar dilemma. Although Royal Mail says its "people are the greatest asset we have and we value the contribution that each of them makes", and describes itself as an equal opportunities employer, it plans to close the sorting office's Childsplay nursery.
"When it opened in 1994, Royal Mail presented the nursery as a flagship, but it's never been replicated," says Jim Kirwan, London general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, which is fighting the closure. "There used to be a waiting list of three years to get a place."
The nurseries at Goldsmiths and Mount Pleasant are just two of many workplace crèches to be threatened with closure in the past few years, having become obvious targets for managers who have to make cost savings.
Yet many people argue the costs are more than offset by the advantages such nurseries bring. There can be few better ways to encourage valued staff to accept a place – or remain – on the payroll. Although many employers offer tax efficient childcare vouchers, these can affect the amount of tax credits parents are entitled to. They also entail staff making their own childcare arrangements and so do not offer the same level of support as a workplace nursery. These are generally good quality and often subsidised; their close proximity to the workplace means the parent is immediately on hand if there are any problems, such as the child falling ill, and are especially important to parents who work outside the no longer typical 9 to 5 hours.
Elizabeth Gardiner, policy and political campaigns officer for the charity Working Families, says most employees do not work in large organisations which can offer nursery places: "Workplace nurseries don't suit everyone and few parents would want to put young children through a long commute to work if they can find a suitable childcare place near to home. However, outside of big cities, where the commute is not an issue but hours are long or work is in shift patterns, workplace nurseries can be very helpful.
"We know how difficult finding childcare can be for people working atypical hours or weekends. They often have to rely on informal support networks of family or friends. When they do, they can't get help from tax credits or childcare vouchers [which have to be spent on formal childcare] towards the cost of care."
According to research last year by the Daycare Trust, about 17% of the population works outside normal office hours. "On this basis, a significant minority of parents are working atypical hours," it says. Moreover, one in 10 parents of dependant children work longer than 40 hours a week, and four in 10 parents work different hours every week. This does not fit comfortably with the work pattern of the vast majority of private or state nurseries, which are typically open from 8am to 6pm and can only offer places to parents who will use them for the same hours and days every week.
A survey by Cardiff Research Centre in 2006 found that even if Cardiff council introduced a voucher scheme enabling staff to use the childcare facility of their choice, 73% still would prefer to use one of the council's workplace nurseries. Yet the Daycare Trust believes only 4% of women have access to a workplace nursery.
Although Goldsmiths' senior management denied the decision was "about money", it argued the nursery was costing the university £70,000 a year in subsidies, yet benefited a tiny proportion of college parents through 23 places. Moreover the nursery was, and is still, sited in a terraced house, far from ideal for its purpose. But the idea of building a new, bigger nursery was "untenable".
Not everyone agrees. "As far as we can tell, there were no other motivations," says Graham Gaskell, chief executive of the Goldsmiths Students' Union. "It was money pure and simple."
To its credit, the college still provides considerable support for the nursery, with accommodation at a peppercorn rent and covers the cost of utilities. But to make ends meet, the Goldsmiths Students' Union will close the nursery for seven weeks a year during the vacations when usage is typically low. The union has also increased charges, to £53 per day session from £50 for staff and £40 for students, although Gaskell points out that student parents can apply for grants from the college to help with the cost.
However uncertainty about the nursery's future has taken its toll. "Many parents, believing the nursery would close, have made other arrangements," says Gaskell. It has filled just 80% of its places so far, though Gaskell expects this to pick up by Christmas, when students and staff who would rather have their children close by at work have seen out the notice period on other nurseries.
One of the few workplaces to buck the trend is the Houses of Parliament, which opened a nursery offering 40 places for the children of MPs, staff and other passholders such as police working in the Palace of Westminster. Describing the decision to open the nursery as a central element of a Commons Commission agenda to promote wider diversity in parliament, speaker John Bercow said: "Our parliament has sadly been behind the times in providing practical support to parents who work here. If parliament is to be truly representative of the community it serves, then it must do more to encourage parents to stand as MPs."
Even so, the fact that closing workplace nurseries will inevitably make it harder for some staff, usually women, to continue working in certain roles, has not deterred other employers from proceeding with their plans.
At Mount Pleasant, Royal Mail management warned parents in November 2010 that the nursery would close in a year's time, and no new children have been accepted since then. Although it has places for 29 children and there are eight whose parents would like to take advantage of the service, it currently looks after just 10.
Royal Mail spokesman James Eadie said: "Royal Mail decided to review the current facilities when the number of children using the nursery was half its capacity and Royal Mail was subsidising it at a cost of over £160,000 a year. This is the only nursery facility Royal Mail provides in the UK."
The nursery's opening hours are from 6am to 10pm, to cover the unsocial hours postmen and women work, hours no other nursery or childminding service in London would be prepared to cover. But Kirwan says: "There was no discussion with parents or assessment of how it would affect people with children in there."
Angela McNaught, a single parent who has been with Royal Mail for 13 years, depends completely on the nursery for looking after her 18-month-old daughter, Micha. "I work from 6.15am to 2.45pm and drop Micha off at 6am. I'm not in a position where family can help out and I've really tried to find an alternative nursery in case this one closes, but the best I could find opens at 7.30am."
McNaught says she has asked if there can be some flexibility about the hours she works, but has yet to get a response. "That's no good. When you are a parent, especially a single parent, you need to be certain about how your arrangements work. I need to know that I have a nursery place for Micha."
Again the Ofsted report is enviable, with the quality of early years provision described as good. And it's not just the opening hours or high care standards that make the nursery attractive for McNaught: Royal Mail heavily subsidises the cost to just £112 a week.
The small number of children taking up places right now means it currently closes at 8pm. But Royal Mail plans to roll several other offices into the Mount Pleasant operation during the next couple of years, and there are already plenty more Royal Mail staff who would like to take advantage of the service, says Kirwan.
The Childsplay nursery has received a stay of execution until next April, and Royal Mail is negotiating with the CWU about its future. Eadie says: "Royal Mail is examining alternative models that will allow the retention of the childcare facilities at Mount Pleasant, while significantly reducing the financial burden on the business."
McNaught is desperate for the decision to go in favour of keeping the nursery open: "The fact that we have had a five-month reprieve has been a weight off my shoulders, but I have no idea what I will do if the nursery closes in April. I hope they will offer me a shift change, but in the worst scenario I'll be out of a job because I can't afford the fees normal nurseries charge."
• The article above was amended on 27 October 2011. The original said that Goldsmiths College nursery had been taken over by the Goldsmiths branch of the National Union of Students (NUS). This has been corrected.
Family-friendly employers: the winners
Centrica, Deutsche Bank and Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were among the winners at the Top Employers for Working Families awards this week. The awards, organised by Working Families and judged anonymously, recognise employers that best support their working parents and carers.
Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, said: "These agile, forward-thinking organisations recognise the value of flexible workplaces and in doing so benefit from advantages in staff recruitment, engagement, motivation and performance."
Best for Innovation and Engagement American Express Services Europe
Best for Flexible Working Centrica
The Best for Mothers Deutsche Bank
Best for Fathers Centrica
Best for Carers Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Best for Career Progression Henmans LLP
• For more winners, visit topemployersforworkingfamilies.org.uk
Childcare costs force poorest families into debt
A third of parents turn down jobs because they cannot afford childcare, according to a study
Nearly half of people in severe poverty are cutting back on food to afford childcare. Photograph: Gideon Mendel/Corbis
Britain's poorest families are getting into debt because of the high cost ofchildcare, while a third are turning down jobs and 40% are considering leaving work because they cannot afford to pay for someone to look after their children, according to research.
Parents spend almost a third of their incomes on childcare – more than anywhere else in the world, according to a study by Save the Childrenand the Daycare Trust. For four out of 10 families the cost of childcare is on a par with mortgage or rent payments, the study showed.
Of those families in severe poverty, nearly half have cut back on food to afford childcare and 58% said they were, or would be, no better off working once childcare was paid for.
The research found that parents, regardless of income, cannot afford not to work but struggle to pay for childcare, and despite many parents cutting back their spending almost a quarter are in debt because of childcare costs.
Cuts to the working tax credit have hit families struggling in severe poverty, the charities said. Four in 10 of those affected have considered giving up work because they will no longer earn enough to cover the childcare bill. The cut has added an average of £500 a year on to the childcare bill of low income families, the research found.
A quarter of parents in severe poverty have given up work and a third have turned down a job mainly because of high childcare costs.
Of those parents in severe poverty and in paid employment 80% agreed with the statement: "Once I have paid for childcare, I am in a similar position to as if I was not working."
A quarter of parents in severe poverty have been unable to take up education or training because of high childcare costs and six out of 10 parents, regardless of income, said they can't afford not to work but struggle to pay for childcare.
The research supports recent analysis of ONS labour force figures by Aviva, which showed that the number of women opting to look after their children instead of taking up paid employment had risen by 32,000 since summer 2010, with rising childcare costs being a key factor in their decision.
Sally Copley, head of poverty at Save the Children, said: "The government is undermining its own 'make work pay' policy by not funding the costs of childcare for the poorest families.
"Childcare in the UK is among the most expensive in the world, and families on low incomes simply don't earn enough to cover the costs and are being priced out of work as a result."
Copley added: "The government must give the poorest parents a chance to work their way above the poverty line. We know that the best way out of child poverty is to help parents into work."
The charities have called on the government to increase the amount they plan to spend on childcare support under the new universal credit in a bid to prevent low income families from being priced out of work and into poverty.
Malcolm Tyndall, director at Elizabeth Finn Care, said: "Household finances in Britain are today being squeezed harder than at the height of the recession in 2009, and it seems perverse that parents are forced to turn down offers of work, or consider leaving employment, because they cannot afford the costs of childcare.
"Women in particular are being disproportionately affected by ever-increasing childcare costs which, when combined with rising petrol prices, soaring rail fares and the reduction in the childcare element of the working tax credit mean that for many people work simply does not pay. We also know that when public sector job cuts begin to bite, even more women will be forced out of the workplace and their position within the economy is becoming increasingly threatened.
"While everyone accepts that tough choices need to be made in order to tackle the deficit, it is worrying that the austerity measures seem to be disproportionately affecting woman and threaten to undo decades of social progress. Woman should not be used as shock absorbers for the cuts, and changes to the benefits system should not force people who want to work to choose between their careers and staying at home."
The charity offers a free and confidential service providing advice on benefits and financial grants.
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "The cost of childcare is one of the most important factors for parents when considering work, and ministers have always said that under universal credit they will invest at least the same amount of money into childcare as in the current system.
"We are working closely with the Treasury and other interested groups to ensure we get this right."
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