Transforming Childcare and Listening to Families
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Transforming Childcare and Listening to Families

Policy in Wales and Beyond

Wendy Ball

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eBook - ePub

Transforming Childcare and Listening to Families

Policy in Wales and Beyond

Wendy Ball

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About This Book

This book draws on original research to consider the connections between childcare, family lives and social policy. The research, located in Wales in the period following devolution, concerns the capacity of policy to enhance family well-being. In interviews with mothers and fathers of young children, their day-to-day childcare arrangements are explored through the themes of gender, social networks, material circumstances and neighbourhood resources. This material provides a basis for an assessment of policy through interviews with policy-makers. The book identifies a significant gap between what matters to parents and what is currently being offered in policy and service provision.

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1

Shaping Childcare Policy in the United Kingdom

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will introduce the social policy context in the UK through an examination of childcare, family and parenting policy at national level since the election of New Labour in 1997. The assessment of policy is shaped by a specific approach to policy analysis that is outlined in the first section. In the second section the focus will be on the New Labour project for childcare. This will offer an overview of the National Childcare Strategy (DfEE, 1998) and link it to a range of other policy agendas including the promotion of gender equality, work–life balance, welfare-to-work and the emergence of child-focused policies. Childcare and parenting policies will be evaluated with regard to their implications for gender relations and for supporting parents. The assessment of the New Labour agenda is intended to reveal the policy infrastructure and legacy that had been shaped prior to the transition to a new UK government in 2010. In the section that follows, the emphases in social policy that have been emerging since the formation of the UK Coalition government in May 2010 will be identified and the implications of economic austerity, welfare reform and the notion of the ‘big society’ for service provision and family well-being will be addressed. The chapter will conclude with some critical observation about the highlights and direction of policy at the national UK level in relation to the matter of ‘who benefits?’ This will provide a framework for comparison with the direction of Welsh policy in the next chapter.

APPROACHES TO POLICY ANALYSIS

How is childcare understood and presented in policy texts? This research explored public policies relating to childcare, gender equality, work–life balance and parenting support. A policy text can be viewed as an ‘attempt at persuasion’ (Sparks, 1992: 112) that represents a particular construction of social reality, and specific presentations may be deployed in order to increase a policy’s appeal to its audience. It is, therefore, important for analysis to go deeper than a surface reading of the text. ‘Frame analysis’ of policy texts was used in this research as a means of illuminating ‘master narratives’ relating to childcare and parenting and the relationship of these narratives to wider public agendas and power relations.
Policy documents and interview transcripts were, therefore, analysed in relation to the concepts of framing and the discursive opportunity structure (Ball and Charles, 2006; Ferree, 2003; Naples, 2002). Framing is broadly defined as ‘signifying work or meaning construction’ (Benford and Snow, 2000: 614) whilst a frame may be viewed as an ‘interpretive package’ (Ferree, 2003: 308) that draws from ideologies and discourses. The positioning of lone mothers in relation to the ‘welfare to work’ agenda, for example, is a means of framing that celebrates the citizen’s moral duty to engage in paid work. In order to link framing processes with power relations it is necessary to locate ‘the construction and interpretation of frames within the broader discursive and institutional context’ (Naples, 2002: 244). The idea of the ‘discursive opportunity structure’ (Ferree, 2003: 309) has been proposed in order to achieve this goal and can be defined as ‘institutionally anchored patterns of interpretation’ (Ferree, 2003: 309). The interpretations underpinning ‘welfare to work’ policies, to return to this example, reveal an agenda that is anchored within the systems of governance. Interest groups campaigning on behalf of parents will be more likely to be heard by government if their demands are framed in ways that echo favoured patterns of interpretation. Put simply, they must use the ‘right language’ and accepted rules of engagement to make their case. On the basis of this framework, the analysis focused on policy texts produced by national, regional and local public institutions in order to uncover their ‘patterns of interpretation’ in relation to childcare and parenting, how those patterns link to broader discourses (for example, those relating to welfare reform) and the implications with regard to the pursuit of gender equality and social justice.
In view of the study’s focus on gender relations and motherhood, the approach also followed Catherine Marshall’s model of feminist critical policy analysis in which research ‘asks an often neglected question of every policy or political action: how is it affected by gender roles?’ (1997: 2). In identifying ‘patterns of interpretation’ in childcare policy texts, the issue of how this positioned mothers, fathers and gender roles was central to this analysis. Similarly, in discussions with policy officers, the intention was to identify master narratives, to consider their implications for gender roles and to illuminate potentially beneficial or harmful consequences.
Policy texts are part of a wider web of discursive and social relations and play a key part in the organization of social action (Smith, 1990a). One of the dominant textual discourses important for this research is that surrounding ‘mothering’ and policy texts may reinforce, reshape or challenge ideologies and discourses that shape mothering practices. Childcare manuals, advertising and magazines aimed at mothers can be significant in influencing the conduct of mothering. Childcare policies, however, may support or challenge this, for example, by recognizing the role of fathers as well as mothers in care. In this sense, policy texts can be located within the framework of the ‘institutional’ networks of ruling and social relations and can be analysed as part of the method of institutional ethnography (Smith, 1988). The focus of this method is on how individual practices are socially ordered through the variety of ‘institutions organizing and regulating society’ (Smith, 1988: 3) and which impact on forms of consciousness. In this way, Smith claims, we are influenced by networks of ruling as we go about our business and texts play a part in this process. However, these texts do not necessarily present a consistent message. On the contrary, the messages can be in conflict, which was illustrated in the Introduction to this book in relation to Sheila’s anxieties over keeping her professional life open and giving time to her paid work whilst also being true to her understanding of what it would take to perform the role of the ‘sensitive mother’. This chapter seeks to identify the variety of master narratives surrounding childcare policy in the UK and in doing so will reveal the patterns of interpretation that may serve to organize the social practices of mothers and fathers. In the next section the analysis of policy will begin with New Labour.

NEW LABOUR’S CHILDCARE POLICY

Since the New Labour government was first elected in 1997 a trend towards a more explicit approach to family and childcare policy (Driver and Martell, 2002; Lewis, 2003; Maclean, 2002) has been identified. Jane Lewis refers to the ‘historical reluctance of UK governments to develop an explicit policy on childcare’ (2003: 219); a reluctance that rested on the view that childcare was a ‘family concern’ (Scott, 1998: 519) and that ‘mother-care’ was best for children. In this context, New Labour social policies reflected a turning point in how childcare was framed in relation to gender, parenting and the needs of children: a shift in the construction of ‘political motherhood’ (Windebank, 1999); that is, understandings of mothering implicit in state policies and institutional frameworks. This shift has been evident in other advanced industrial societies beyond the UK, so much so that Rianne Mahon (2005) has claimed that recognition of the need for post-maternalist childcare policies has emerged as an international phenomenon albeit with variation in national responses. With the trend towards increased labour market participation of mothers, she argues, it ‘can no longer be assumed that care will be provided as an unpaid “labour of love” by women within the realm of the family household’ (Mahon, 2005: 343). How did New Labour shape its agenda for childcare in this context of changing labour market and household relations?
In May 1998 the UK government announced the National Childcare Strategy (DfEE, 1998) in the inter-departmental Green Paper Meeting the Childcare Challenge: A Framework and Consultation Document and in October the Green Paper Supporting Families (Home Office, 1998) was also issued for consultation. Both papers reflected some of the wider priorities of New Labour in relation to combating poverty, promoting social inclusion and investing in children (Millar, 2003). Taken together these proposals introduced a wide variety of initiatives that may impact on parents’ childcare decisions and the conduct of parenting more generally. The main directions of the New Labour project for families are considered in the next section. Although the Labour Party failed to retain power in the General Election of 2010, these initiatives helped create the policy infrastructure and frame the cultural values that may now be continued or reshaped by the UK Coalition government.

The National Childcare Strategy

The main themes of the National Childcare Strategy (DfEE, 1998) included reference to transformations in paid employment, especially the labour market participation of women with children, and changing family patterns that meant many families could not rely on informal care alone but would need access to affordable formal childcare provision. Specific attention was focused on the position of lone parents tied in to the welfare-to-work agenda to encourage more lone mothers to return to work or education (Ridge and Millar, 2011). The strategy highlighted themes of quality, affordability and accessibility of childcare and included proposals to tackle gaps. There was to be increased investment to expand childcare places alongside the introduction of a new childcare tax credit to help with the matter of affordability. All of these proposals were to be taken forward at the local level through new Childcare Partnerships based on the Early Years Development Partnerships. It was claimed that the success of the National Childcare Strategy would be seen in relation to both better outcomes for children and the opportunity for ‘more parents with the chance to take up work, education or training because they have access to diverse, good quality childcare’ (DfEE, 1998: para. ES2).
The National Childcare Strategy could, therefore, be seen as a vehicle to advance wider employment and educational agendas in the context of welfare restructuring. As Gill Scott argues, this amounts to ‘an intentional shift in the work, family, state triangle on the part of the state’ (1998: 522). The intention to support families in combining work and childcare was also tied in to an agenda to ‘“make work pay”‘ (Lewis and Campbell, 2008: 528) and with a view to reducing welfare spending. The framing of childcare policy in relation to economic goals has profound implications in relation to its capacity to meet parental preferences and enhance family well-being; this claim will explored later in the chapter.
The Inter-Departmental Childcare Review, Delivering for Children and Families (Strategy Unit, 2002), identified further plans for the transformation of childcare policy. The twin themes of alleviating child poverty through promoting employment opportunity and improving outcomes for children through early years education and childcare remained the focus for discussion. It was noted that, despite progress, problems with the availability of childcare remained, especially in economically deprived areas. The review proposed further investment in childcare including the creation of new children’s centres (Lewis et al., 2011) providing a range of services for children and families and the expansion of childcare in and around schools. In addition, a new inter-departmental unit was proposed that would draw together responsibility for childcare, early years education and Sure Start.
In Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: A Ten Year Strategy for Childcare (HM Treasury, 2004) the government set out how it would build on the achievements of the National Childcare Strategy and the Sure Start programme. As noted earlier, the National Childcare Strategy had identified that the development of childcare should be based on the principles of ‘quality’, ‘affordability’ and ‘availability’. In the ten-year strategy a fourth principle of ‘choice’ was added so that ‘parents are better supported in the choices they make about their work and family responsibilities’ (2004: para. 1.10: 4). The capacity of policy to support parental choice was one of the themes for discussion in the interviews with mothers, fathers and policy officers. Their perspectives on how far policy has been able to deliver this commitment to supporting choice will be reported in Chapters 3, 4 and 5.
The Childcare Act 2006 progressed the ten-year strategy and introduced further regulation of the childcare and early years sectors. However, some sections applied only to England whereas others impacted on the responsibilities of local authorities in England and Wales. The Act placed a duty on both English and Welsh local authorities ‘to secure sufficient childcare for working parents’.1 In this way the framing of childcare as a service primarily for those seeking work, or engaged in education or training, to provide a route into work was embedded in the legislation. Childcare policy in Wales, however, has been developed in the context of devolution and changing governance arrangements through the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh government and will be considered further in Chapter 2.
Research into the progress of the National Childcare Strategy (Daycare Trust/NCSR, 2007) revealed that, nearly a decade after the strategy’s launch, significant weaknesses persisted in terms of quality, affordability and choice of childcare and its suitability for supporting maternal employment. The study raised questions regarding the capability of a childcare market based on demand-led provision to cater for the diverse needs of parents living in different neighbourhoods. Some of these issues will be explored in Chapter 4, where the three areas of the study are compared in relation to service provision and the capacity of local services to meet parental needs.

Supporting families?

The National Childcare Strategy was presented as one part of a package of government support for families (Rahilly and Johnston, 2002). In November 1998 the UK government published the Green Paper Supporting Families (Home Office, 1998) based on the deliberations of the Ministerial Group on the Family chaired by the Home Secretary. The Green Paper claimed that the government’s intention was to introduce measures that would support families and thus strengthen family life. The ‘family policy’ outlined in the Green Paper focused on five areas linked with specific proposals that it claimed would help families: ‘Better Services and Support for Parents’, ‘Better Financial Support for Families’, ‘Helping Families Balance Work and Home’, ‘Strengthening Marriage’ and ‘Better Support for Serious Family Problems’ (Home Office, 1998).
The conflicts and ambiguities evident within this Green Paper support claims that the New Labour project was inherently contradictory (Lister, 2001; McRobbie, 2000). The devotion of an entire chapter to the matter of ‘Strengthening Marriage’ provides one example to support this claim of ambivalence. Martin Durham (2001) has argued that the ambiguities that were evident in this Green Paper reflect divisions within the government with regard to the principles that should underpin family policy. The Green Paper favoured traditional perspectives regarding family structure and roles, such as ‘Strengthening Marriage’, that seemed to be at odds with other progressive policies associated with the New Labour project.
The discourse surrounding family support was also often couched in terms that appeared to be critical or punitive towards parents who were perceived as failing to cope. Proposals that aimed to change parental behaviour through education and advice or through particular sanctions were evidently preferred to more fundamental structural changes to address problems parents may face (Rake, 2001). Support for parents was thus directed towards those perceived to be a risk to their children, meaning that specific target groups were identified; for example, teenage parents, who have persistently been portrayed as a social problem in need of intervention by government (Duncan, 2007). Moreover, although government discourse uses the convention of referring to particular categories of parent, in reality the main care-givers tend to be women, meaning that mothers are the focus of attention (Featherstone, 2006; Nixon, 2007). Simon Duncan observes that this conception of a ‘parenting deficit’ (2002: 306) takes place in a policy context ‘of seeing paid work as a moral duty while demoting unpaid caring work’ (2002: 306). Yet at the same time a shift towards the greater regulation of parenting practices (Edwards and Gillies, 2004) is tied in with a reassertion of the moral responsibilities of parents towards their children. This represents a tension in the framing of policy that reflects the claim that in a society such as the UK, where participation in paid work is seen as the ‘key to citizenship’ (Lister, 1997: 139), the contribution of those providing unpaid care is devalued (Kittay, 2001; McKie et al., 2001). Whilst legislation and social policy in the UK has started to support, indeed encourage or require, women’s labour market participation, it has done less to support women’s caring role or to challenge the gendered nature of caring (Lewis, 2007; McKie et al., 2001). The next section will question the degree to which gender equality, work–life balance and family-friendly policies have made progress with these issues.

Gender equality, work–life balance and family friendly policies

Women increasingly want to work and have careers as well as being mothers. Many fathers want more involvement with their children’s upbringing. (Home Office, 1998: 2)
The Government welcomes women’s greater involvement and equality in the workplace and wants to ensure that all those women who wish to can take up these opportunities. (DfEE, 1998: Para 1.6)
Supporting Families (Home Office, 1998) signalled the UK government’s intention to help families balance their work and home responsibilities. In 2000 the government launched the work–life balance campaign to encourage employers to recognize the benefits of flexible working. Alongside this have been various developments with regard to parents’ employment rights. According to Simon Duncan, New Labour policy discourse on ‘the reconciliation of work and family life’ (2002: 305) represents a broadening of understanding of gender equality policy focused previously on promoting equality of opportunity in paid employment. However, this is mainly as a consequence of European Union (EU) policy directives that posed a dilemma for New Labour because, ‘while the British government may be ideologically more attracted to the liberal US model of “flexible” labour, it is bound by EU law to implement a more corporatist gender equality model’ (Duncan, 2002: 305).
The attention to work–life balance matters and parental rights in the context of EU policy directives has led to some (limited) improvements in (some) parents’ rights in relation to employment.2 In December 2000 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published the Green Paper...

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