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Informal childcare: reasons and influences to be researched

Some 3.9 million parents in the UK currently rely on informal childcare — that which is supplied by friends and relatives — rather than paid-for, formal professional services.

The Daycare Trust has now received a grant of nearly £370,000 from the Big Lottery Fund to look into the reasons and influences for this decision.

Views from parents and carers will be gathered to see how much class, locality, parental status and social disadvantage plays a role, and whether the availability of higher quality formal childcare would influence parental preference.

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Chief Executives Alison Garnham and Emma Knights said: “Despite record investment in formal childcare, the number of parents using informal childcare remains higher than for formal provision and politicians are beginning to focus more attention on what it offers. Parents often say ‘trust’ is behind this choice, and this study aims to find out exactly what this means.

“No existing study offers a clear analysis of the reasons parents choose informal childcare, nor do they often consider the views of the carers. Also, the childcare market can look very different depending on where in England you live, as can attitudes towards formal childcare depending on a parent’s ethnicity and social location. We aim to fill these gaps and find out whether there is a real preference for informal care or whether other issues, such as the cost, quality and availability of suitable childcare also play a part.”