The government’s free childcare scheme, marketed under the banner ‘Free Childcare for All’, is failing to target the poorest of the poor, according to researcher Anna Borg.
Additionally, there are issues on the quality of childcare being offered due to the high demand, which have resulted in cramming and a lack of qualified child carers.
The scheme, she said, seemed to focus more on the economic element rather than on the educational and developmental aspect for children.
Dr Borg was yesterday speaking at a conference organised by the Employment and Training Corporation, together with the Education Ministry, as part of the EU’s Mutual Learning Programme, which included representatives from 10 European countries.
She explained that, while the government-funded childcare scheme was a step in the right direction for working parents, children from disadvantaged households – such as those with mental health problems, drug abuse or other social problems – risked being left out of the system.
It was more difficult to have both parents, or the single parent, from such backgrounds in employment or in education, Dr Borg said, emphasising the protective role of free childcare, especially in the case of vulnerable children.
Maltese men are more likely than their European counterparts to believe women should stay at home to look after children
Quality childcare could mitigate social inequalities in early life and provide a protective role for children in at-risk households, she said.
Studies have shown that quality childcare minimises the number of early school leavers and facilitates social mobility later on in life. It also helps flag up cases of abuse and neglect early in a child’s life.
Childcare centres are not evenly spread across the island, increasing commuting time and stress for parents before and after work. Parents who do not have private transport can find it difficult to take their children to childcare centres if these are far from their workplace or locality.
The opening hours of the centres are not consistent and can be incompatible with the typical eight-hour work day.
The rules stipulated that one carer should be allocated per three babies under a year old, as opposed to one carer per six children (including one baby aged under a year).
“It does not pay the centres to accept such young babies [under one] if this reduces their income. What other solutions exist for young babies?”
The increased number of children in each centre was also causing an element of cramming, leaving children with less physical space to navigate in.
When the ratios were not strictly adhered to, the quality of care was reduced, Dr Borg pointed out.
It had been reported that, whenever a child was ill or absent in government-run centres, their work had to be taken over by other carers, resulting in unmanageable ratios. “This raises issues of the quality of care being offered.”
The increased demand in addition to the short implementation time has led to a lack of suitably qualified and experienced child carers, she continued. The issue of qualification and training had to be kept as a priority.
The job of a child carer could be stressful and demanding and carried a lot of responsibility, she said.
The working conditions were bad and the pay was low. Child carers were paid around €5-€5.75 per hour and had atypical working conditions, with a 30-hour week.
The scheme itself was also inflexible. Currently, parents had to book their hours a month in advance.
This, Dr Borg added, reduced the flexibility of both working parents. Parents had to pay the difference between booked and used hours – they were entitled to 15 per cent absence over a year.
“Because of this penalty, there is a risk that parents who cannot afford to pay for unused hours may choose to send their children to childcare even if they are sick.
“How can the government avoid abuse while affording more flexibility to parents?”
Self-sustaining by 2018
The free childcare scheme will become financially self-sustaining as soon as it is used by 40 per cent of parents with children under three years, according to ETC chairman Clyde Caruana.
The coverage ratio is expected to hit 25 per cent by the end of the year while the 40 per cent is expected to be achieved by 2018, he said.
This means that a sizeable majority of mothers with children under three years will still be in employment aftergiving birth.
Government expenditure on free childcare is expected to increase sevenfold, from 0.02 per cent of the GDP before April 2014 to 0.14 per cent this year.
Success factors
• Before the introduction of government-funded free childcare in April 2014, there were 1,600 children of working parents in childcare. By December 2014, the number increased to 2,567 children. By December of this year, the number is expected to rise to 3,200 children.
• An additional 200 mothers are estimated to have entered the workforce in low-to-medium skill jobs (although two-thirds work part-time).
• There has been an aggregate increase of 10.7 per cent in working hours and an estimated €1.9 million in direct and indirect tax contributions.
• 50 new child carers were employed in the sector.
• It saves working parents money. On average, one childcare hour used to cost €2.50, compared to a minimum wage of €3.65 or an average wage of €5.96 (net of taxes).
Barriers preventing mothers from working
Malta has a number of shortcomings that make it difficult for both parents to be engaged in full-time work when their children are young, according to researcher Anna Borg.
• The school opening hours are short (with schools closing as early as 1pm); summer holidays are long (three months); and the opening hours of the government’s summer school are short (until 12pm).
• Provision of before and after school services is in its early stages and is neither mandatory nor available in all schools.
• There are few legal provisions to ensure a work-life balance in the private sector.
• Parental leave is of four months (unpaid) and rarely taken up by fathers.
• Maltese women do nearly three times as much unpaid work in the family as Maltese men do.
• Maltese men are more likely than their European counterparts to believe that women should stay at home to look after children rather than join the labour market, especially when the children are still young.
• Mothers also assume that they must put the children before paid work to provide the ideal child rearing, rather than send their children to childcare.