Early Childhood Research BulletinPedagogy and Early Childhood Studies, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick The Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) Report on Supporting Access to the Early

Early Childhood Research Bulletin No. 4 www.childrensresearchnetwork.org 1

Recent Events Understanding the lives of children under three In partnership with Early Childhood Ireland’s national seminar celebrating the importance of early childhood education and care for children under three on 27th October in Marino Institute of Education, RECEC hosted a free morning research event. The intention behind this event was to initiate and support a conversation on current Irish research into the lives of Irish children under three and their families. Professors Noirin Hayes from Trinity College and Sinead McGilloway from Maynooth University, as well as Josephine Bleach from the Early Learning Initiative in the Docklands presented and shared their knowledge about existing research in this field and possible avenues for future research. The fifty or so participants were invited to respond to these papers and engage in a structured debate. For further information, contact Professor Nóirín Hayes at [email protected]

In the afternoon, Early Childhood Ireland held their Dublin Conference, facilitating an international dialogue with Aldo Fortunati and Arianna Pucci on the Tuscan Approach to quality early childhood experiences as well as Margy Whalley from Pen Green in the United Kingdom. Over a hundred people attended the conference. Aldo Fortunati is Director of the Educational Area at the Istituto degli Innocenti in Florence amongst other responsibilities. He is education and policies expert for children and author of numerous books and contributions on the subject, he has directed programmes and monitoring activities on educational child care services on behalf of the Tuscany Region and the Italian government and, through Eurosocial, in areas and countries of Latin America. Arianna Pucci, pedagogue, has worked as educator and pedagogical coordinator in many education services in Tuscany. Since 2011, she has worked at the Education Area of the Istitute degli Innocenti in Florence where she is involved in the activities of the Tuscan Region Documentation Centre on Childhood. She has collaborated on the most recent publications on the Tuscan Approach to children’s education and to some articles related to ECEC services. Margy Whalley is well known to all involved in early childhood care and education in Ireland. She has been a frequent visitor and presenter at conference here and has lit up every stage with her presence and her passion for supporting feisty children. She is Director of the Pen Green Centre for under-5s and their families – which also includes a Research, Development and Training base and delivers training and consultancy all over the world. With the Pen Green team, she has been mentoring and

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Early Childhood Research Bulletin No 4 December 2016

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developing high quality practice over the last 30 plus years. Their work with the age range birth to 3 years is exception and in this presentation she brought this work to life on the stage with videos, stories etc.

For further information contact Early Childhood Ireland at [email protected]

EECERA 26th Annual Conference 2016, DCU, Dublin Early Childhood Ireland and Stranmillis University College hosted this prestigious European research event. The conference took place from 31st August to 3rd September 2016 in Dublin City University.

The conference was organised to coincide with the centenary celebrations. ‘With the hundredth anniversary of the birth struggles of the Irish nation, which resulted in a Constitution (Bunreacht na hEireann) which resolved to pursue the happiness of the whole nation with a further commitment to “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”, it is fitting that Ireland has been chosen as the host country of the 26th European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Conference’. The theme of the 2016 conference was ‘Happiness, Relationships, Emotion & Deep Level Learning’ and focused on exploring the links between the cognitive and the socio-emotional aspects of early childhood learning and development. Children co-construct meaning in relationship with significant people in their lives. These relationships are core to children’s learning and can enhance or hinder their progress. In the same way, children’s natural drive to relate and connect to community has consequences for their learning and development. Questions therefore arise about how and in what ways the capabilities

involved in relating and connecting – attachment, bonding, belonging, emotional regulation, empathy and well-being – are linked to life-long and deep level learning.

This raises many further questions: What capabilities are most important? Why do they matter? How can adults nurture them? How can professionals recognise, describe and assess them? Are professionals and parents accountable for a child’s socio-emotional development? Moreover, is the ‘pursuit of happiness’ an inalienable right for all? Is it a universal drive in all children? How does happiness impact on the child as a learner?

All children are driven to explore, contribute and find their place in the world around them. In the societies we live in, in 2016, how do the ‘toxicities’ of current childhoods enhance or impede their explorations and learning and their sense of emotional wellbeing and belonging?

At the conference, the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone TD, promised to deliver Ireland’s National Early Years Strategy, which is nearly 5 years in the making, within months. The Minister made this clear commitment after some deliberate prompting from Jillian van Turnhout, Chair of Early Childhood Ireland. Jillian reminded the audience that “The National Early Years Strategy was first promised by then Minister Frances Fitzgerald in January 2012. That’s two Ministers and over four and a half years ago”, urging this Minister to “ensure that the baby is delivered before the fifth anniversary of its conception.”

Minister Zappone said how delighted she was that this major international conference had come to Ireland this year and how she is “committed to delivering policy that is informed by evidence of the kind that the EECERA conference provides.” She added that, “Ireland’s Early Years sector is at a critical point. Whilst there has been significant investment in recent years to address affordability and quality, major challenges remain and need to be addressed in a committed fashion over a number of years. Now is the time to ensure that every child and family, regardless of their social or economic background, receives the kind of early years care and education that they need and deserve. I intend to use the strong evidence base that exists internationally to inform how Ireland should best prioritise investment available.”

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The Minister said that she was determined to put investment in the early years on a multi-annual basis, rather than Government funding being planned from one budget to the next. Furthermore, she gave a commitment to work towards better pay and conditions for early childhood educators. She emphasised that implementation, which is all important, might take longer.

The conference was attended by a thousand delegates over the five days and included keynote addresses by Anne Looney, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Leon Feinstein and Alison Gopnik, as well as organized childcare visits, special interest group meetings, poster presentations and nearly 200 parallel sessions. The Early Childhood Research Group, a special interest group of the Children’s Research Network, had a stand in the exhibition area and received a lot of local and international interest as well as several new members.

International Seminar of Community of Practice and Knowledge: Empowering Parents and Children’s Rights The Lifestart Foundation hosted an International Seminar on Empowering Parents and Children’s Rights at St Columb’s Park House on the 15th-17th June 2016. The Foundation is an all-Ireland charity, with 30 years’ experience in the provision of high quality evidence-based parenting education and support. It hosted the seminar on behalf of a Community of Practice and Knowledge made up of Family Support experts and practitioners from a number of different countries. The Practice Community is headed up by Apprentis d'Auteuil, a Paris based charity, which for 150 years has been working with international partners, to provide support, education, training and employment programmes for young people and their families. The event was funded by Foundation Dora, a Geneva based donor foundation that helps children and teenagers with ‘special needs’ and their families. The Community of Practice has held two previous international seminars – one in Paris in 2014 and one in Marrakech in 2015. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Empowering Parents and Children’s Rights’. The three-day seminar included participants from France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Belgium, the Lebanon, Morocco, Canada, the Philippines, the Republic of Ireland and Northern

Ireland. On the first day of the seminar the Lifestart Foundation show-cased its work in Ireland by taking delegates to visit two Lifestart service providers – the Dunluce Family Centre, Derry and Lifestart Services Ltd, County Donegal and delegates were informed about the local and national contexts of Lifestart practice through presentations made by: Mairéad McCafferty, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People; Pat Armstrong Head of Services, Adoption, Fostering, Independent Chairs and Early Years, the Western Health and Social Care Trust NI; and Anne McAteer, Health and Well-being Division, Health Service Executive, Republic of Ireland. The following two days of the seminar event focused on addressing issues of best practice in supporting and empowering parents to respond to children’s rights. Delegates discussed and shared knowledge and experience, drawn from their own socio-economic and political contexts and settings, and identified, collectively, key features of exemplary practice, including approaches, language, tools and technologies that support best practice in empowering parents, linking their discussions in very practical ways to the implementation of children’s rights in different societies and contexts. Arising from these discussions, the Community of Practice and Knowledge is currently planning a number of shared study and training initiatives to further this work and delegates will meet again in Greece in 2017. For further information about their approach to family support see ‘How to Work with Families’ http://www.apprentis-auteuil.com/news/news-detail/article/le-college-creuse-les-inegalites-entre-eleves/news-cat/societe.html Pauline McClenaghan PhD Lifestart Foundation www.lifestartfoundation.org

Meeting of the Early Years Education Forum Hosted by the DES on Saturday 19th November “Building a Professional Future in Early Years Education” Review of Occupational Role Profiles in Early Childhood

Education and Care. Keynote Address: Professor Matthias Urban.

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Developments in the sector

Leadership for INClusion in the Early Years: Making a Difference for Children

Dr. Emer Ring, Head of Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

The Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) Report on Supporting Access to the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme for Children with a Disability was launched in November 2015 (IDG, 2015). This report provided for a new model of Government-funded supports aimed at enabling children with additional needs to participate fully in free-preschool mainstream settings alongside their peers. The model, which is based on national and international research evidence, was developed following extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including the parents of children with additional needs. The seven-level Access and Inclusion (AIM) model detailed in Figure 1. below adopts a child-centred approach through focusing on identifying and responding to each individual child’s developmental level, abilities and needs rather than relying exclusively on formal diagnoses. A Consortium led by Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and including Early Childhood Ireland and Maynooth University - Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education, was awarded a €5.4 million contract from the Higher Education Authority to deliver a National Higher Education Programme for Inclusion Coordinators in Early Years Settings.

1 Although the term Early Childhood Education and Care is

used within the literature, for the purposes of this paper,

Figure 1. Access and Inclusion Model

(IDG, 2015, p.6)

Based on a blended-delivery format, the Leadership for

INClusion in the early years (LINC) programme,

commenced on Saturday 24th September, providing

places for 900 students in nine regional centres across the

country. The LINC programme comprises a key element

of Stage 3 of the AIM and further details are available on

the programme website at www.lincprogramme.ie.

The Affordable Childcare Scheme – parental panacea, or paradoxical ideology?

Dr. Mary Moloney, Lecturer in Early Childhood Care and Education, Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

Introduction The provision, cost, quality and accessibility of childcare 1 has dominated social, political and economic discourse in Ireland since the late 1990s. In terms of cost, the OECD (2014) assert that a family with two children can pay between 24% and 35% of net income for a dual earner family, and 40% of the net income of a lone parent family. Within this context, the cost of childcare is a considerable barrier to employment (European Commission, 2014; Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA), 2016). Against this backdrop, Minister Zappone, announced the Affordable Childcare Scheme, as part of Budget 2017. The scheme is premised upon the principle of progressive universalism (DCYA, 2013, 2016), comprising both a

childcare is the term used in keeping with the Affordable

Childcare Scheme policy document

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universal and a targeted element, based on net parental income. This paper which examines the recently published policy paper on the Affordable Childcare Scheme (DCYA, 2016), highlights the advantages for parents, while also interrogating the ideological paradox that underpins the scheme, and the concomitant consequences for childcare providers. What is the Affordable Childcare Scheme? The Affordable Childcare Scheme is a single ‘national scheme of financial support towards the cost of childcare’ (DCYA, 2016, p. 4). As such, it is the first attempt in Ireland, to introduce subsidised childcare for all children from 6 months to 15 years. In line with current maternity, and paternity leave arrangements, a system of income related subsidies will be available to parents with children from 6 months of age (i.e., the point at which mothers generally return to work following maternity leave). Bearing in mind that the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme entitles all children to avail of 15 hours of free pre-school per week from age 3 until they transfer to primary school, the Affordable Childcare Scheme should not need to support full-time childcare costs for children from age 3 onwards, but should instead ‘wraparound’ the ECCE programme (DCYA, 2016, p. 19). The cost and quality of afterschool care has also been highlighted as an issue in the Programme for a Partnership Government 2016, which commits to introducing ‘a new system to support and expand quality afterschool care for school age children’ (p. 78). Consequently, the Affordable Childcare Scheme ‘will become the vehicle for supporting the affordability of afterschool care’ (DCYA, 2016, p. 19). It will replace the four existing targeted funding programmes: Community Childcare Subvention (CCS); Childcare Education and Training (CETS); After-school Childcare (ASCC), and Community Employment Childcare (CEC), thus streamlining the application process for parents, and reducing the administrative burden for childcare providers. The scheme is underpinned by a series of core principles (Figure 1). It is envisaged that these principles will provide a system of progressive financial support towards the cost of childcare, where all parents are assessed on the same consistent equitable basis having regard to their

ability to pay, and their need for childcare. The scheme should also support parental choice and geographic access to childcare, allowing a choice of TUSLA registered childcare provider. Finally, the scheme will be administratively clear and straightforward, with robust, clear, well-defined eligibility rules set down in primary legislation (Adapted DCYA, 2016, p. 14). Figure 1. Principles Underpinning the Affordable Childcare Scheme

Key aspects of the Affordable Childcare Scheme The scheme will operate on the principle that the ‘money follows the child’, meaning that it will be open to all parents, not just those in receipt of social welfare payments, or training programmes, and all registered childcare providers, private, community and childminding. It adopts a ‘supply-side’ approach to funding (DCYA, 2016, p. 22), whereby, subsidies will be paid directly to providers, who must pass on the subsidy to parent in the form of reduced childcare fees. Ultimately, this approach will support the Government to redress the childcare cost barrier to labour market participation (Ibid., p. 22). While the primary focus will be upon targeting financial support progressively, based upon parental ability to pay, a minimum universal subsidy will be made available to all families with children aged between 6 and 36 months. As illustrated in Table 1, while the universal subsidy will not be means-tested, income thresholds will apply to the targeted element of the scheme.

Progressiveness

and Afforda

bility

Equity

Efficiency and Responsiveness

Choice and

Access

Good Govern

ance

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Table 1: Overview of Subsidies Payable under the Affordable Childcare Scheme

Targeted Subsidies for Low Income Families

Universal Subsidy for All Families with Children under 3 years of age

Lower net income threshold €22,700 Below €22,700, parents pay 30c/hour, or €12 for a 40-hour week

Subsidy at a rate of 50c/hour payable for each hour of childcare used up to a maximum of 40 hours per

Parents receive a maximum of €960 per year per child, or €80 per month

Higher net income threshold €47, 500 tapered subsidies

Based on full-time care (paid pro-rata)

Maximum 40 hours per week Payable to TUSLA registered providers

Covers children from 6months to 15 years

Payable to TUSLA registered providers

As shown, two income thresholds will apply. Under the base net income threshold of €22,700, parents will qualify for the maximum hourly rate of subsidy (i.e., 30c/hour) towards the cost of childcare. A tapered subsidy will apply to incomes in excess of €22,700, up to the maximum net income threshold of €47,500, after which no subsidy will be payable. Subsidies will be provided on a cost-sharing basis, i.e., a parental co-payment will apply2, even where the maximum subsidy rate is payable; in this case, the parent will pay €12/week for a 40-hour week. The parental co-payment will be paid directly to the childcare provider. Higher levels of maximum subsidy will be paid for younger children as follows: under-1s (€5.38), I year old (€4.60), 2 year old (€4.40), 3 – 5 year old (€4.16), and school-age (€3.96). Subsidies will be payable for up to 40 hours per week if both parents are in work, training or study (or one parent if one-parent family). If parents are not in work, training or study, subsidies will be payable for 15 hours of childcare per week. Benefits of the Affordable Childcare Scheme for Parents Without doubt, the Affordable Childcare Scheme represents a major reform of how childcare is funded in Ireland, and is a welcome development for parents who struggle with the cost of provision. Because of the

2 An exception applies where a child is referred for a childcare

subsidy by TUSLA on child welfare or family support

universal nature of the scheme, and the principle that the money follows the child, all families can benefit. Recent investment has focused almost exclusively upon the ECCE programme. As a result, the cost of childcare for children from birth to three years has placed enormous financial pressure on working parents. Furthermore, parents requiring additional hours of childcare, for children, outside of the ECCE programme, were largely unsupported, as were those requiring after school provision, during term time, and school holiday periods.

The provisions of the Affordable Childcare Scheme with regards to addressing each of these areas for parents is commendable. As mentioned, the scheme will ‘wraparound’ the ECCE programme (DCYA, 2016, p. 19); providing subsidies for children from 6 months to 15 years, thus providing much needed financial support to parents in employment. In keeping with the principle of progressive universalism, lower income families will benefit most. The generous subsidies should combat the cost of childcare as a barrier to labour market participation for these families, helping to reduce child poverty, a stated objective of the scheme, and of the programme for Government 2016.

In all cases, subsidies are payable for a maximum of 48 weeks/year taking account of the minimum statutory leave entitlement of 20 working days under the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. This measure seems to suggest, that parents will not be required to pay for childcare during times when they avail of annual leave. While this will be a welcome relief for parents, as discussed later in this paper, it presents a considerable challenge for childcare providers who continually struggle with sustainability (Dublin City Childcare Committee (DCCC) 2015; Early Childhood Ireland (ECI) 2016; Moloney and Pope, 2016).

Paradoxical Ideology In addition to ensuring that access to affordable childcare is not a barrier to labour market participation, the DCYA also propose that the Affordable childcare scheme will provide a strong basis for supporting the higher level objectives of:

grounds. In such cases, TUSLA will cover the cost of the

parental co-payment.

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Promoting positive child outcomes Narrowing the gap in attainment between more

and less advantaged children by enabling all children to access high quality, affordable childcare

Driving quality across the sector in Ireland

Thus while the DCYA highlights the need for quality childcare, it asserts that this objective ‘cannot and should not be divorced from the objective of affordability’ (2016, p.31). Although the suggestion that subsidy levels will be linked to quality is welcome, it is apparent that the twin objectives of quality and affordability represent an ideological paradox in the context of the Affordable Childcare Scheme. The State may well be concerned with the quality of childcare, but in the absence of adequate financial support to childcare providers, quality and affordability will be incompatible.

In its current iteration, the Affordable Childcare Scheme is primarily focused upon labour market activation, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, which provide an overview of the frequency of key words used within the policy document relating to affordability, labour market activation/participation and quality.

Figure 2: Frequency of terms associated with affordability3

3 Counts of the use of ‘affordability’ exclude the use of the

term in relation to the ‘Affordable’ childcare scheme which is

used repeatedly throughout the policy document

Figure 3. Frequency of Terms Associated with Quality

Although the word quality is mentioned seventy-nine times throughout the policy document, interestingly, it is qualified by use of the terms ‘affordable/subsidised/cost’ no less than thirty-nine times. Likewise, although the potential of the Affordable Childcare Scheme to ‘drive quality’ is mentioned 10 times, the concept of quality is not defined.

Regrettably, the scheme presents childcare as a service/commodity for parents, enabling them to participate in the labour market, rather than being premised upon the needs and rights of children, or the needs and rights of early childhood educators to a living wage, and appropriate terms and conditions of employment. This is best encapsulated in the following statement (DCYA, 2016, p.26) which highlights the benefits of the scheme with regards to ‘increase[ing] the responsiveness of public funding to parents’ changing needs, and parental choice which, in turn, promotes competition between childcare providers with regard to the quality of care provided’. Similarly, while Start Strong (2014) assert that ‘competition amongst providers will drive down prices and increase quality’ (p. 30), ‘Experience in Europe does not provide any evidence that quality would increase due to competition (Melhuish, 2015, p. 16).

Quality Costs

The subsidies payable through the Affordable Childcare Scheme, while beneficial for parents; may in fact, worsen

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Labour market…

Price cap/s

Income threshold

Work/study

Cost/costs

Afforable/affordability

Access/accessibility

Demand

0 10 20 30 40 50

Benefits of quality ECEC

Drive/driving quality…

Quality assurance

Quality measures

Quality…

Cost…

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the financial sustainability of the childcare sector (Table 2).

Table 2. Overview of a fully subsidised place for a 1-year old child for 40 hours per week

Level of care required

Government Subsidy

Parental co-payment

Total income to setting

40 hours/week

€4.60/hour

€184.00/week

30 cent/hour

€12/week

€196

At first glance, the weekly income illustrated in Table 2 seems lucrative. It must be remembered however, that as the subsidy is paid for 48 weeks of the year only, settings will effectively be left without an income for four weeks. Full daycare providers pay their staff for 52 weeks of the year not 48, and therefore, any income resulting from the Affordable Childcare Scheme must be spread over 52 weeks. Dublin for example, has been identified as a high-cost region for childcare (DCYA, 2016) with minimum fees pitched at €900/month (Pat Kenny Tonight). Using the minimum fee of €900/month, and calculating the income shown in Table 2 over 52 weeks (€196 x 48 = €9408 ÷ 12 months (52 weeks) = €784) there is a substantial shortfall in funding in the sum of €116/month to the childcare provider.

On the basis of these calculations, any childcare provider currently charging more than €780/month will be placed in the impossible position of subsidising a Government funding scheme, or, reducing their fees and quality, in order to participate. Of course there is always the option of laying staff off to draw social welfare as currently happens with the ECCE scheme (Moloney and Pettersen, 2016), or as proposed in the Affordable Childcare Scheme policy document, ‘services may be able to use staff more flexibly, reducing staff numbers at times of low demand (during the day, week or year) in order to maintain a high occupancy rate. The terms ‘cheap childcare’, ‘zero hour contracts’ and ‘race to the bottom’ come to mind.

In the unlikely event, that any early childhood educator will be permanently employed into the future, the question must be asked: Are they not entitled to 20 days paid annual leave in accordance with the provisions of the

Working Time Act, 1997? The answer to this rhetorical question is of course yes, but who will pay? Rather than compete with each other, it is much more likely that childcare providers will be far too focussed on survival, than to think of creative ways to maximise quality and funding as proposed by the DCYA. Clearly, subsidy rates under the Affordable Childcare Scheme were considered in light of their implications for parental co-payments, rather than supporting and recognising the need to adequately fund the childcare sector in line with UNICEF and OECD recommendations.

As mentioned, a higher level objective of the Affordable Childcare Scheme is to: promote positive child outcomes, and to narrow the gap in attainment between more and less advantaged children. However laudable, these objectives cannot be achieved simply through accessing childcare alone. Rather, national and international literature identifies the level of staff qualifications as the best general indicator of educational outcomes and positive experiences for young children (DCYA, 2015; OECD, 2012; Nutbrown, 2012). Alongside this, the OECD (2016) assert that salary, working environment, and workload all influence an early childhood educator’s decision to enter, and remain in the profession. Consequently, in Norway, for example, statutory starting salaries for teachers, including those working in pre-primary, exceed OECD averages across all levels of education (OECD, 2016). By comparison, the salaries of early childhood educators in Ireland are abysmal, and in general, fall short of the living wage of €11.50 per hour. According to the OECD, generous core funding can ensure the recruitment of a highly professional staff who remain committed to improving children’s developmental outcomes. Competitive wages attract a strong professional staff that is more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, perform well and make long-term career commitments leading to lower staff turn-over. Indirectly, this can improve child development outcomes (OECD, 2012). Anecdotally, the childcare sector in Ireland is in crisis, with many providers finding it increasingly difficult to recruit, or to retain staff (Moloney and Pope, 2013; Moloney and Pettersen, 2016). Regardless of the importance of remunerating early childhood educators appropriately, staff salaries are mentioned only once in the entire Affordable Childcare policy document (with the

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exception of the appendices), and it is apparent, that the subsidies payable through the scheme will perpetuate cycles of in-employment poverty for early childhood educators. Conclusion From a parental perspective, the Affordable Childcare Scheme has much to offer, in terms of providing much needed support with childcare costs. It can therefore be regarded as radical and transformational with regards to a new way of funding childcare, moving from universal to targeted subsidies, for all parents of children from six months to 15 years. From a Government perspective, it holds the promise of addressing the childcare cost barrier to labour force participation, and by extension, to reducing child poverty. Unfortunately, from a childcare provider perspective, it is underpinned by a paradoxical ideology, where affordability and quality are dichotomous concepts. In its quest to expedite labour market activation, the State has overlooked the looming crisis in the sector which is characterised by low salaries, an exodus of highly qualified staff, ubiquitous disharmony, and sustainability. Ultimately, the Affordable Childcare Scheme may in fact worsen the crisis within the sector. It is incumbent upon the Government to reconsider the terms of the scheme, to ensure that it can achieve the twin objectives of quality and affordability, in a way that values and respects those that work with young children, and thus creating the ‘best small country in the world in which to grow up and raise a family’ (DCYA, 2014), and where early childhood leads education.

The Affordable Childcare Scheme Public Consultation

The DCYA recently launched a public consultation on the new scheme. This survey seeks practitioners, parents and other key stakeholders’ views on the design of the new Affordable Childcare Scheme. A public consultation was carried out in April-May 2015 on priorities for Government investment in childcare, which informed the Report of the Inter-Departmental Working Group: Future Investment in Childcare in Ireland.

That report, which also examined the evidence base for different policy approaches, recommended – among

other proposals – a single childcare subvention scheme with eligibility based on income.

On 28 October 2016, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs published the Policy Paper on the Development of a New Single Affordable Childcare Scheme, which sets out detailed plans for the scheme and is now carrying out this public consultation on the detail of the scheme’s design.

The Department will use survey responses to help refine specific design features as well as to consider options for future development.

The full policy paper on the scheme is available here. In general, the scheme seeks to make high quality childcare more affordable for those who need it. The scheme seeks to address the needs of children, parents and childcare providers. While it will be introduced in September 2017, it will provide an infrastructure through which any further State investment in future budgets can be administered. The scheme will complement other commitments in the Programme for Government such as those relating to extended paid parental leave, enhancements to the Home Carer Tax Credit, etc. The survey contains four sections: one for parents, one for childcare providers, and two for everybody. Please answer any sections which are relevant to you – you may complete all four sections if you wish. When you have completed the survey, please press the DONE button on the final page.

The survey is open from Friday 28 October to Friday 25 November. Your response will be anonymous, but if you are responding on behalf of an organisation there is an opportunity to name the organisation. Your response may be subject to Freedom of Information requests, and summary results may be published by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

The Real Cost of Childcare

Report by Early Childhood Ireland

Early Childhood Ireland recently launched a new report entitled Doing the Sums: The Real Cost of Providing Childcare with Meehan Tully & Associates Ltd. researching the viability of various childcare financial models in Ireland amongst 596 survey respondents

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(including 220 community based; 362 privately owned services and 14 services who did not give their status).

The aim of the research was to examine whether it is possible to operate a viable childcare service that operates within the confines of the existing funding models; supports professional development for owners, managers and staff; provides a career pathway for those working in the sector. The research addressed these considerations by scoping out the costs involved in running childcare services, of varying operational sizes.

The report findings show a real issue with sustainability in the childcare sector, with the average childcare service in Ireland, whether private or community run, urban or rural, operates on a breakeven basis. It states that, even when a surplus is generated by a childcare facility, it is often too little to meet the cost of re-investment in the business.

The main findings of the research can be summarised briefly as follows:

The average childcare service in Ireland, whether private or community run, urban or rural, operates on a breakeven basis. Even when a surplus is generated by a childcare facility, it is often too little to meet the cost of reinvestment, which will be required at various stages of the business, including for maintenance, building improvements and replacing equipment. For example, based on the Report’s working examples, the average community based childcare facility providing a 39-45 week service in an urban setting had an end of year reserve of only €5,826 and the average privately owned service offering a 38 week programme in a rural setting had a reserve of just €1,651.

Salaries and wages are, by far, the most significant costs facing a childcare service on a daily basis. The wage bill for larger childcare services can reach up to 80% of total operational costs. However, while wages represent the largest proportion of costs, the actual hourly wages being paid to staff are markedly low, with many of those working within the sector earning less than the living wage. This applies to all staff, including those with a Level 7 qualification. Furthermore, a large number of staff employed

within the childcare sector are on part-time and/or 38-week contracts.

The difficulties faced by providers in the sustainable delivery of non-ECCE childcare services has pushed many towards the ECCE-only model. Despite the low capitation, Baby and Toddler Rooms, in general, still cannot compete with the predictability and dependability of the revenue stream produced by an ECCE Room. This has pushed many services to limit, or remove entirely, the availability of childcare services outside of the ECCE programme. The number of children enrolled on ECCE represent a very significant proportion of the overall numbers in early education and care and this is set to increase as the ECCE programme is extended over 2016-2017.

In terms of the viability and sustainability of services, the introduction of the ECCE programme has been a positive development within the sector, improving occupancy and giving services access to a regular and dependable revenue stream. That said, ECCE is not adequately funded to provide a decent income for the majority of providers and staff. In the words of one provider “we cannot afford to run our ECCE with the new requirements... We struggle as it is to pay wages at €9.50 per hour, qualified staff are harder to attract and to put on a second ECCE year means we need more qualified staff. The capitation needs to increase significantly and the CCS scheme needs to reduce the amount of paperwork.”

Impact of wage changes on ECCE capitation rates. The Report found, in the case of a privately owned service in an urban setting on the higher capitation rate, that for Room Leaders to be paid the average Educational sector salary level of €33.90 per hour, maintaining the average ECCE Room at its current level of viability, the ECCE rate would need to increase to €119.86. Or, if the aim was to raise childcare staff’s hourly rate above the Living Wage, requiring an increase of 30% for Room Leaders and 20% for Early Years Educators, maintaining existing levels of viability in an average ECCE Room, the ECCE rate would need to increase to €80.71.

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For the majority of childcare services, full day care represents a very small portion of the overall number of children in the service. For many, each room is comprised of a mix of full day care, part-time sessional and ECCE places.

While a small number of childcare services manage to generate relatively high surpluses, they are the exception within the sector and tend to be based within large urban settings. Furthermore, it should also be noted that the wage rates for many of the larger urban-based childcare services are among the lowest in the childcare sector.

There are many differences between urban and community-based services, which lead to higher costs for those in urban settings. For example, urban-based services tend to be larger than rural-based services, requiring a larger building and the higher costs that ensue, i.e. higher rent, rates, insurance, maintenance, light and heat. These differences can lead to higher fees being charged for childcare, without necessarily increasing any surplus of income over expenditure for the childcare service. For some of the larger services that operate as franchises, there are additional costs to be borne by the service, including the cost of the franchise itself.

Of particular concern within privately owned childcare facilities is the tendency for many owner/managers to reduce their salaries to address financial difficulties facing their businesses. According to one provider “we are finding costs are increasing such as light, heat, rates, wages but we are unable to pass these costs on to parents and therefore the only way to continue to operate the crèche is to take less and less of a salary as the owner.” This may, on the face of it, facilitate the short term survival of the business, but it is an artificial scenario that does not reflect the true cost of running the childcare service and is certainly not sustainable as a good business model.

Privately owned services incur certain costs that do not apply to or are lower in community-based services. The most significant of these are commercial rates and rent, which increase significantly for larger services in urban settings. Of the respondents who reported paying rates,

the report found that services in urban settings pay an average of €4,885 with the rates ranging from €100 to €24,000 and in rural settings services pay an average of €3,690 with the rates ranging from €300 to €10,000.

For further information please refer to www.earlychildhoodireland.ie or contact Amy McArdle on [email protected].

Recent Reports and Research New research published 2nd November by the ESRI and Pobal investigates the effects of childcare in early life on children’s socio-emotional development at age five using a large representative sample of children (circa 9,000) from the Growing Up in Ireland study. At age three, prior to the Free Preschool Year, around half the children in the study were in non-parental childcare. There were three categories of non-parental childcare:

Relative care, usually by a grandparent Non-relative care, typically a childminder Centre-based care, e.g. crèche

Children’s socio-emotional outcomes were assessed based on their pro-social skills (e.g. sharing, kindness to younger children) and socio-emotional difficulties (e.g. conduct problems, emotional difficulties, hyperactivity/inattention and peer problems) as reported by their mothers and teachers.

How does childcare at age 3 influence socio-emotional outcomes at age five?

After taking account of a range of child, parent, family and neighbourhood level characteristics the study found that:

Relative care: Children cared for by relatives at age 3 have somewhat fewer socio-emotional difficulties and better social skills at age 5 than those looked after by their parents full-time.

Non-relative care: Children cared for by a non-relative (e.g. a childminder) at age three were rated by both parents and teachers as having fewer socio-emotional difficulties, in particular, fewer emotional and peer problems than children in full-time parental care.

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Centre-based care: Parent-rated total socio-emotional difficulties scores did not differ between children who experienced centre-based care at age three and those in full-time parental care, and differences on teacher scores were minor. Teacher ratings showed slightly higher socio-emotional difficulties among children in centre-based care compared to children in parental care only, particularly for those in longer hours of care (over 30 hours).

Centre-based care was found to have a positive effect on teacher-rated socio-emotional development for a number of disadvantaged groups. Centre care is associated with a reduction in total difficulties for children in the lowest social class categories and with an increase in the pro-social scores for children from lone parent households.

Other key points:

Differences between parent and teacher ratings are consistently found in the international literature. Both provide valid information on children’s adjustment in different contexts.

Effects of childcare are small. Childcare type and hours of care at age three explained a very small proportion of variation in children’s scores (less than 1%).

As nearly all of the children participated in the Free Preschool Year between the ages of three and five, the effect of participation could not be tested.

Other important factors associated with socio-emotional outcomes:

The child’s health, gender, socio-economic background, family structure, and other family characteristics such as parenting style and parental stress had a greater impact on socio-emotional development than childcare.

Greater difficulties are found among boys, children living in households experiencing financial difficulties and those living in less safe neighbourhoods.

Events and Training Children’s Research Network Annual Conference Our annual conference is fast approaching. The theme of this year’s Conference is ‘Building Resilience, Enhancing Social Support: What Research Tells Us'. The conference, which will be opened by Fred McBride (CEO, Tusla), examines possibilities for enhancing social support that contributes to building children and young people’s resilience, including research on the role of the family; school; community; youth work, including youth participation; social and mental health interventions and resilience and social support from an international development perspective. The aims of the Conference are to promote high quality research, policy, and practice in children and young people’s issues and to provide opportunities for networking for all sectors working in this area. Keynote speakers include Yvonne McKenna (CEO, Gaisce), Grainia Long (CEO, ISPCC), Aisling Gillen, Director of Family Services, Tusla) and Pat Dolan (Professor, NUI Galway). In addition to our traditional oral and poster presentations, this year we will have self-organised workshops on topics such as early childhood, the sustainability of the Network as well as the Prevention and Early Intervention Network Research Initiative as well as Structured Research Dialogues on themes ranging from resilience through the outdoors, empowering young women with rare genetic disorders, researching and measuring resilience and supporting families. The focus of these dialogues will be on bringing the relevant policymakers, practitioners and researchers together to discuss implications for future policy and practice. We warmly invite you to attend the 5th Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland Conference which will take place on the 6th December 2016 at Chartered Accountants House in Dublin. For further information and to register, click here.

Early Childhood Ireland will be hosting a Research and

Practice Seminar as part of their annual conference,

which will be taking place on 31st March and 1st April 2017

in the O’Brien Centre for Science, UCD, Dublin. This is an

opportunity for researchers and practitioner educators to

share their research towards developing evidence-based

thinking and practice within the early childhood sector in

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Ireland. The theme for the conference is “You Matter:

supporting the early childhood educator” and research

proposals are invited under the following strands:

The role of Educators

Well-being of educators, children and families

Professionalisation

Management and leadership

Current issues and challenges in ECCE

Infrastructure and Frameworks

Quality in ECCE

Curriculum

Play

Under-3s

Families

Policy

Proposals can be submitted by clicking here until January 17th, 2017.

OMEP Ireland (World Organisation for Early Childhood Education) is hosting its annual conference in Cork on 20 May 2017, titled Early Childhood Challenges and Opportunities: Embracing Challenge and Inventing Tomorrow. The call for abstracts is now open and abstracts of 150 words are to be submitted by Monday 30 January 2017. Abstract submission form available from www.omepireland.ie

The Early Childhood Research Group This bulletin is produced by the Early Childhood Research Group of the Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland. The group, established in early 2015 is made up of members of the Network with a special interest in early childhood research. Its mission statement is to be a collaborative space for the research community to share and disseminate research findings, promote quality practice and identify opportunities which will enrich understandings and improve the lives of young children. One of the ways in which this is achieved is through the dissemination of research reports, events, training opportunities and policy/practice updates to wide audience. Please feel free to share this bulletin, also available on the Network’s website www.childrensresearchnetwork.org If you have items you would like included in the next bulletin or have any comments or questions, please contact Maja Haals Brosnan (Research Co-ordinator) on [email protected]