The government’s free childcare scheme, which has been marketed under the banner ‘Free Childcare for All’ is failing to target the poorest of the poor, according to researcher Anna Borg.

While the scheme was a step in the right direction for working parents, children from disadvantaged households (with mental health problems, drug abuse or other social problems) risked being left out of the system, she said.

It was more difficult to have both parents (or the single parent) from such backgrounds in employment or in education, Dr Borg said.

Addressing a conference on Malta’s free childcare system for working parents this morning, which included representatives from 10 European countries, Dr Borg emphasised the protective role of free childcare, especially in the case of vulnerable children.

Quality childcare could mitigate social inequalities in early life and provide a protective role for children in at-risk households. Studies have shown that quality childcare minimises the number of early school leavers and also helps flag up cases of abuse and neglect.

Other issues flagged by Dr Borg included the fact that childcare centres were not evenly spread across the island, an element of cramming, a lack of trained child carers and the poor pay and working conditions.

Employment and Training Corporation chairman Clyde Caruana said the free childcare scheme will become self-sustaining as soon as it is used by 40 per cent of parents with children aged 0-3.

The rate currently stands at 25 per cent and the 40 percentage is expected to be achieved by 2018, he said.

Before the introduction of government-funded free childcare in April 2014, there were 1,600 children of working parents in childcare. Within eight months, by December 2015, the number increased to 2,567 children. By December of this year, the number is forecast to rise to 3,200 children, Mr Caruana said.

Government expenditure on free childcare this year is expected to be seven times as much the figure it was prior to April 2014, from 0.02 per cent of the GDP to 0.14 per cent of the GDP in 2015.