Employers still failing to deliver on childcare

Increasing numbers of working parents think that their employer is family friendly, although only one in 10 says that their employer provides help with childcare.

These findings come from a survey commissioned from the MORI polling company by childcare charity Daycare Trust. It found that 64% of working parents describe their employer as family friendly, up from 54% in 1999. Fathers were more likely than mothers to say that their employer was not family friendly (39% compared to 19%).

The proportion of parents who say that their employer provides help with childcare has only risen slightly since 1999, from 8% to 11%.

When asked about what they want from employers, 31% of full-time parents put contributions to nursery costs at the top of the list. For part timers, holiday play schemes are the top priority (36%).

The survey, published for National Childcare Week last month, showed that most parents believe that the government should contribute more to the cost of childcare (60%), 41% say that employers should help more and 16% say it is down to parents.

It also found that two-thirds of parents believe that childcare staff are poorly paid.

Stephen Burke, Director of Daycare Trust, said: "Higher expectations of employers bear out parents' views, expressed in 1999, that family- friendly employment policies would become more important over the next five years. But still too few employers provide real help with childcare, despite the gains for both employer and employee. More incentives need to be provided to encourage employers to do more."