The impact of COVID-19 on the provision of Early Years childcare in England and Wales

COVID-19 对英格兰和威尔士幼儿保育服务的影响

• 批准号: ES/V013203/1
• 负责人: Kate Hardy
• 金额: $ 45.46万
• 依托单位: University of Leeds
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FV013203%2F1
• 关键词: impact; COVID; 19; provision; Early

Early Years (EY) childcare is critical to the UK economy and society given its positive impact on child development and wellbeing. Without the provision of formal and informal childcare, parents will not be able to return to work during or after the COVID-19 crisis, which will exacerbate intra- and inter-household inequalities. This will be includes notably gender inequalities given women's working-lives are impacted most by the absence of EY and informal childcare through families and friendship networks.The urgent challenges that this research will address in the context of COVID-19 are in relation to:1) Disruption to and sustainability of provisionFormal childcare faced financial difficulties before COVID-19 (Penn et al 2011) and 1 in 4 nurseries said that they may not reopen after the crisis (EYA 2020). It is critical to generate empirical evidence on why and where these closures are occurring, what closures will mean for families, how the changing EY landscape and its sustainability will impact on returns to work and gender and socio-economic (in)equalities. Additionally, it is essential to understand the impact on home-based and informal care. Pre-COVID-19, thousands of nannies and childminders and five million grandparents regularly provided childcare. We will generate knowledge of their ability to provide care, as well as parental responses to loss of informal support and the implications for EY provision.2) Ensuring safe environments for workers, children and families.Childcare necessitates close physical proximity. Some social distancing and safety measures have been enacted, but better understandings are needed of the challenges this poses for providingsafe EY environments, and the additional financial pressures it brings. There is an urgent need to understand how staff, children and families who are clinically vulnerable, and may not be able toreturn to group settings can be supported. The research seeks to find out:- What are the key pressures on EY childcare provision as a result of COVID-19?- How will the landscape of formal and informal childcare provision change during and after COVID-19?- How can sufficient provision be ensured and made sustainable and safe for providers, staff and families?- How can a more sustainable future for the EY childcare sector be created?This project will respond to these questions and challenges via four Work Packages (WPs):WP1: Nursery and pre-school group providers. A survey of 1000 nurseries over two waves complemented by qualitative interviews with 25 nursery managers and 50 nursery workers across two waves to capture change over time.WP2: Home-based childcare workers: A survey of 500 nannies and 500 childminders plus qualitative interviews with 25 nannies and 25 childminders over the same two waves.WP3: Parents and grandparents: A survey of up to 1000 parents of children aged 0-4 years old, over two waves complemented by qualitative interviews with 25 parents and 25 grandparents who provide at least one day of childcare pre COVID-19 for 0-4 year-olds.WP4: Case studies of four different countries, 2-4 expert interviews with key stakeholders in EY childcare provision, to explore best practice in other contexts and draw lessons for developing policy in the UK.This project will be the first to generate detailed, longitudinal evidence on the immediate and longer-term impacts that COVID-19 has on different types of formal and informal childcare provision across England and Wales. The evidence generated will provide urgently needed insight into the challenges of delivering sustainable childcare in the UK following COVID-19 and potential impact of loss of both formal and informal provision of care.

鉴于早期儿童保育对儿童发展和福祉的积极影响，它对英国经济和社会至关重要。如果不提供正式和非正式的托儿服务，父母将无法在 COVID-19 危机期间或之后重返工作岗位，这将加剧家庭内部和家庭之间的不平等。这将特别包括性别不平等，因为妇女的工作生活受到缺乏 EY 以及通过家庭和友谊网络进行非正式托儿的影响最大。这项研究将在 COVID-19 背景下解决的紧迫挑战涉及：1 ) 供应中断和可持续性 在 COVID-19 之前，正规托儿所面临财务困难（Penn 等人，2011 年），四分之一的托儿所表示，危机后它们可能不会重新开放（EYA） 2020）。至关重要的是，必须就这些关闭发生的原因和地点、关闭对家庭意味着什么、不断变化的安永格局及其可持续性将如何影响工作回报以及性别和社会经济（不）平等产生实证证据。此外，了解对家庭和非正式护理的影响也很重要。在 COVID-19 之前，数千名保姆和保姆以及 500 万祖父母定期提供儿童保育服务。我们将了解他们提供护理的能力，以及父母对失去非正式支持的反应以及对安永提供的影响。2) 确保工人、儿童和家庭的安全环境。儿童保育需要近距离的接触。一些社会疏远和安全措施已经颁布，但需要更好地了解这对提供安全的安永环境带来的挑战及其带来的额外财务压力。迫切需要了解如何为临床上脆弱且可能无法返回团体环境的工作人员、儿童和家庭提供支持。该研究旨在找出：- COVID-19 给安永儿童保育服务带来的主要压力是什么？- 在 COVID-19 期间和之后，正式和非正式儿童保育服务的格局将如何变化？- 如何才能提供足够的儿童保育服务？确保并为提供者、员工和家庭提供可持续和安全的服务？- 如何为安永儿童保育部门创造一个更可持续的未来？该项目将通过四个工作包 (WP) 来回应这些问题和挑战：WP1：托儿所和幼儿园-学校团体提供者。对两波中的 1000 家托儿所进行了调查，并在两波中对 25 名托儿所经理和 50 名托儿所工作人员进行了定性访谈，以捕捉随时间变化的情况。WP2：家庭托儿工作者：对 500 名保姆和 500 名保姆进行的调查以及对 25 名保姆和保姆进行的定性访谈同一两波中的保姆和 25 名保姆。WP3：父母和祖父母：一项针对多达 1000 人的调查0-4 岁儿童的父母，分两轮进行，并对 25 名父母和 25 名祖父母进行定性访谈，他们在新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 爆发前为 0-4 岁儿童提供至少一天的托儿服务。WP4：四种不同儿童的案例研究国家，与安永儿童保育服务的主要利益相关者进行 2-4 次专家访谈，探索其他背景下的最佳实践，并为英国制定政策吸取经验教训。该项目将是第一个针对当前和未来的问题生成详细的纵向证据的项目。 COVID-19 对英格兰和威尔士不同类型的正式和非正式儿童保育服务的长期影响。所产生的证据将提供迫切需要的见解，以了解在 COVID-19 之后英国提供可持续儿童保育的挑战以及失去正式和非正式保育服务的潜在影响。

项目成果

Essential but undervalued: early years care and education during Covid-19

重要但被低估：Covid-19 期间的早期护理和教育

• 发表时间: 2022
• 作者: Kate Hardy