Still Home Alone?
A new report (Download pdf here)launched this month by 4Children and Karen Buck MP "Still Home Alone?" outlines how the lack of childcare for 11 – 14 year olds is putting thousands of children at risk of isolation, boredom and temptation into crime.
As the clocks go back for autumn and darker evenings draw in, more families than ever worry about the welfare of their children after the school bell rings. Both parents work in around 77% of families with older children so the fact that office hours and school hours just don't fit is a daily worry for many with additional difficulties arising during the long school holidays each year.
New requirements for lone parents with children 12 and over to return to work from October 2008 means the current shortage is only set to get worse leaving only 1 place available nationally for every 200 children and a potential 650 000 children looking for a safe place to be until their parents come home from work. Whilst most parents can now find help with childcare for younger children, those with older children have little available, meaning they have to leave their children home alone or patch together informal and often unsatisfactory arrangements with family and friends.
Whilst it is clear that children need a different kind of care and supervision as they grow up, most parents do not believe that 11 - 13 year olds are old enough to look after themselves. Safe, reliable and supervised environments providing great things to do would appeal to parents and children alike. Sadly, few places like this are available at the moment leaving parents to worry and children to a latchkey existence. Growing pressure on mothers to work make this an urgent priority if negative experiences of latchkey children in the USA are not to be repeated here.
The report highlights
• 80% of mothers of older children are in work
• At any one point in time half of parents do not know exactly where their teenagers are, whom they are with or what they are doing when they are not in school
• Only 25% of parents said that 11 – 13 year olds were old enough to look after themselves
• 34% of 11–16 year olds reported regularly returning from school to an empty home
• Evidence from the USA shows that welfare to Work programmes can have a negative impact on academic achievement of adolescents if they do not have proper support and supervision
• Over half (58%) of Children's Information Services surveyed had nothing available for 11 – 14 year olds during the recent half term. Furthermore, even where there was provision, the vast majority did not provide this for the full day.
The report makes recommendations for putting in place a new generation of support for 11- 14 year that would offer youth clubs in schools available after school and during school holidays whilst parents are at work.
1. A renewed political commitment from Government for the 11 - 14's including targets for the development of new places and the creation of a new stream of youth clubs in schools for this group of children who are seen as too old for traditional childcare and too young for traditional youth clubs.
2. A new pump priming fund to enable existing and new providers to develop this kind of provision and ongoing funds to sustain and subsidise childcare in deprived areas
3. Better joining up of current schemes such as extended schools and youth provision to maximise their potential
4. Better information for parents on what is available and how they can get help to pay for it
Karen Buck MP for Regents Park and Kensington North said today
"Despite some very positive progress on childcare for younger children, there is still an alarming shortfall in provision for older children. This causes additional worry for parents who want to know their children are safe and well looked after whilst they are at work, and it denies young people opportunities from which they could benefit. This pamphlet sets out the need for a renewed commitment to put in place good quality, affordable reliable activities which young people will enjoy and give parents peace of mind. Most importantly, it sets out some practical steps we need to take to get there."
Chief Executive of 4Children Anne Longfield OBE said today
"Parents worry about their children no matter how old they are, but for this age range they are particularly right to do so. With little after school support available for children of 11 – 14 and research showing this is a time when children can go off the rails, it seems unfair that parents are often left to juggle the difficult balance between work and their family life unaided. We know that at this age, children want a different sort of care and our proposals set out the stall for this "next generation" care for older children"
4Children is the national charity dedicated to creating opportunities and building futures for all children. It aspires to ensure that all children, young people and families have access to a creative, safe and child focused environment, and activities. 4Children provides an information line for parents and children's professionals with advice and support on all aspects of children, young people and families. For more information see: www.4Children.org.uk.
Karen Buck is the MP for Regent's Park & Kensington North Constituency. Contact Karen on 07956 617 833; Email: k.buck@rpkn-labour.co.uk; Website: www.karenbuck.org.uk.
November 2007
