Business School research cited in Nursery World article
Research from the Business School is featured in an article exploring how childcare settings should strengthen their connection to local parents in a shifting landscape post-pandemic.
A study by Dr Kate Hardy and Professor Jennifer Tomlinson is quoted in the Nursery World article entitled “Business Challenges: Part 3 - Reaching out”.
Charlotte Goddard notes that lockdown led some families to have a greater appreciation of the benefits of early education and childcare, but others are still choosing to keep their children at home for all or some of the time, due to changes in working patterns, reduced income, or continuing concerns about safety:
Ofsted, for example, recently reported a decreased take-up of funded places for two-year-olds, while University of Leeds research found that 15 per cent of parents interviewed in autumn 2021 had decided not to return to work after parental leave. The Leeds research also found that childminders have been particularly impacted. Most childminders surveyed (90 per cent) attributed reduced occupancy to reduced demand from parents due to changes in their work.
The cited research comes from the ESCR/UKRI funded project ‘Childcare During Covid-19, a project looking at disruption to early years education and care as a result of Covid-19.
