Access to Childcare Fund: phase 2 - evaluation report

8. Outcomes for parents

Summary:

• Overall, projects had made progress across all the ACF intended outcomes for parents. Family support was an important factor in achieving all of these outcomes. This included signposting to support around employment or study, mental health and general practicalities such as housing or benefits.
• There was evidence that every project had contributed to parents being able to start, maintain or progress their career, or engage in training. Key factors were: flexible timings that could fit around parents’ work hours. Affordability of services also made working a financially viable option for parents.
• Improvements in parental health and wellbeing were reported by projects and parents themselves. This resulted from enabling parents to have respite time, relieving stress around arranging childcare and running provision for parents such as peer support groups.
• While there were positive outcomes relating to families’ financial circumstances, this was partially dependent on whether parents using subsidised places would have otherwise used paid-for alternative childcare. However, it was noted that supporting parents with employment could help boost household income in the longer-term.

This chapter considers to what extent, and how, the processes and activities carried out by the funded projects led to the desired outcomes for parents: increased parental employment and/or training; increased parental health and wellbeing; and improved financial circumstances.

Supporting parents with employment and/or training

There was evidence that every project had positively contributed to parents being able to start, maintain or progress their career or engage in training. Families explained that, without access to the funded projects, they would not have been able to work or study as easily or for as many hours, if at all. This was reinforced by the views and experiences of stakeholders and project leads, as well as data in monitoring reports:

“Without it, I wouldn’t be able to work at all. I’d have to be on benefits full-time, which is pretty extreme as I’ve worked my whole life.” (Parent)

The main way in which this was achieved was simply through providing accessible childcare to parents at the times they needed to work or study and ensuring it was affordable (although the childcare was not dependent on employment, or seeking employment). However, the inclusion of additional support focused on training or employment was seen to enhance this outcome, as well as providing wider family support to boost parents’ confidence.

Case study 2: Elizabeth, Lola and Thomas

Elizabeth is a lone parent. She has two children: her nine year old daughter Lola attends an after-school club. There are various activities at the after-school club including: arts and crafts, sports, and games.

The cost of the after-school club is subsidised. Without that financial support, Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to afford it which would impact on her ability to continue her studies. She hopes this will lead to an increase her household income.

Elizabeth has developed strong relationships with the project staff over several years and staff regularly ask for feedback on how the service is working for parents and children. She feels that staff go out of their way to help with has any issues she has, including by changing days Lola attends the club to suit changing circumstances, but also by providing advice and support in other areas. This support is important to Elizabeth as she does not have many other connections in the local area.

Accessible and flexible timings

The timing of provision was critical in determining whether parents had sufficient time to work. Generally, the more hours of childcare offered, the more parents were supported to work. Specifically, timings that supported parents to work full-time included wraparound care, where after-school sessions began straight after school and ran later than standard working hours and breakfast clubs started early enough for parents to get to work:

“We do have a breakfast club within the school but that earlier window (7.30) for parents has been appreciated.” (Project lead)

While all projects met at least one of these criteria, there was evidence of unmet demand among families for times not yet offered by projects.

Provision during the school holidays was also important in enabling parents to work, for some even more so than during term-time. However, not all projects offered this for all school holidays and there were parents who faced difficulties working during these times.

Flexibility around booking provision was another important way in which projects supported parents to work, as parents who wanted or needed to work irregular hours could book childcare at short notice in order to do so. However, flexibility could also reassure parents considering committing to any form of employment, since they could generally rely on support from projects if they got held up at work or had to work additional hours at short notice.

Affordable childcare

Affordability was also strongly linked to parental employment. Firstly, through contributing to making childcare accessible to parents who needed it to work in the first place, but secondly, by making working worthwhile financially for those on low incomes:

“[Without a funded place] it would end up that there is probably no point in me going to work, because my money would end up paying for [my daughter] to go there.” (Parent)

Subsequently, this meant that parents who were able to build a career and progress to a higher income were given the opportunity to do this, without the cost of childcare being prohibitive early on (for example, when studying or starting out in entry-level roles). Being able to progress was also linked to being able to access and afford more hours of childcare:

“[Without a funded place] I probably wouldn’t have went for a career change […] it is a big help just to be able to get a better job, a much better job than the one I was in.” (Parent)

One project lead explained that having access to childcare helped parents suffering from ill health to remain part of the workforce, since it enabled them to take time to recover without facing additional barriers to returning to work:

“[Parents’] health isn’t always stable, and people have been able to access the ACF to keep their childcare place, which means it is easier for them to recover and then also transition back into work” (Project lead)

It was noted that anxiety about stopping receiving Universal Credit payments could be a barrier to projects supporting parents to start working. This was due to a fear that, if something was to go wrong, there may be difficulties or delays in restarting Universal Credit.

Confidence in the quality of services

A final accessibility factor that was mentioned in relation to parental employment was the degree of trust parents had in projects to deliver a high standard of care for their children. When parents trusted project staff, it provided peace of mind which enabled them to better focus on their work:

“I [have] peace of mind [that my son] is looked after, I don’t need to worry about, you know, going to pick him up or anything like that. So, it has definitely relieved a lot of stress within my workplace and how I am able to access work and be more committed to my job as well.” (Parent)

As noted earlier, trust in the quality of care could be a particular barrier for parents of children with ASN. In their monitoring report, SHIP explained that addressing this had been important in driving their employment outcomes:

“At the beginning of the project families were using the sessions either for respite or for existing work. As the project has progressed…parents are now using the service for increasing their hours and to take on employment […] Parents have stated that this is because they now have the confidence that the club is reliable, and it is looking after their child’s needs. They don’t need to worry about being called during a session or the club not running.” (Project monitoring report)

Additional support

When projects provided parents with advice and support around accessing employment or education, this was seen to enhance outcomes. This was typically underpinned by close partnership working. For example, Clyde Gateway worked with local authority staff who specialised in employment, a family support worker, and other partners such as Routes to Work as part of their steering group. This enabled them to signpost parents to relevant opportunities, but also to provide direct support such as careers advice:

“Importantly, from attending these courses [via project] it had gave me an insight into what I wanted to do […] which is what led me to go to college.” (Parent)

Wider family support was also viewed as contributing to increasing parental employment. Projects and stakeholders emphasised the connection between positive parental wellbeing and being able to enter the workforce. One project lead felt that the early intervention work they carried out with families in crisis could lead to improved training or employment outcomes later on, as this helped families to cope with and process events which may otherwise present as a barrier to study or work:

“We have had parents who have used days for crisis and intervention who are now, because we offered that service at a time they needed it, they are now at college doing further education.” (Project lead)

“A parent that got made redundant [asked] if they could get support for health and wellbeing to get a sense of pride back and a bit of confidence back in themselves, so that started initially with [free] leisure membership. […] From that they then basically got qualifications [for their current job].” (Project lead)

Increasing parental health and wellbeing

Increased parental health and wellbeing was achieved across all projects to varying degrees, with some projects particularly focusing on providing wider family support as well as childcare. Childcare provided by the ACF projects was linked to increased parental wellbeing in many different ways. While it could provide valuable respite time, there were examples of projects more actively supporting parents by either reducing stress for parents; providing support or advice; or running activities specifically for parents to attend.

Respite time

For parents who were not working while their children attended provision, having childcare meant they could enjoy respite from caring responsibilities. This was widely seen as important for mental health, as parents could focus on their own needs, using the time to run errands, socialise or relax:

“I can have time for myself…I can either sit there with a cup of tea in silence … or, ‘oh, it is so and so’s birthday’ or I need to go and run errands” (Parent)

“[I can] go to the gym and do things, so it is great to have that break as well, so I think it definitely helps my wellbeing.” (Parent)

Even among parents who worked during this time, there was a view that this could have wellbeing benefits and one parent described work as their ‘outlet’.

Relieving stress

By providing an accessible service, projects reduced the stress around organising SACC for parents. This was especially true for lone parents or those with a small or no support network, and also reduced guilt or worry about relying on family members to provide care:

“I’m not worried like who am I able to get [him] looked after by this week. I know he is there, he is in a safe environment when I’m away.” (Parent)

When childcare was affordable, this could go some way to decreasing financial pressures for parents:

“My finances haven’t been great. […] I don’t get a lot of money, and what I do get it’s on the kids and bills and that so it’s been a massive weight off my shoulders, as in I don’t need to stress about anything.” (Parent)

Flexibility around notice periods and booking provision helped to reduce worries when circumstances changed at short notice.

Support and advice

Parents spoke about how staff at the projects had helped or advised them with issues they were facing in their personal lives. This was particularly effective when staff had built up close relationships with families and understood their situation. For example, one parent explained that, because staff knew her daughter so well, they were able to provide more helpful, tailored parenting advice. Staff and stakeholders also emphasised the importance of minimising any sense of stigma or judgement, so that parents felt comfortable sharing things that were worrying them with project staff.

Indigo’s family support worker role was seen as a particularly effective way of providing parental support, with families stressing the impact of the individual relationships they had built with the family support worker:

“I don’t know what I’d do without her. It’s as little as helping me to fill in a form. [...] She’s my go-to person. I get myself worked up, I don’t know who to call and things like that. If I phone [her] and say I don’t know how to do this, she’ll say I’ll do it for you or point me in the right direction.” (Parent)

“I’ve been able to get things off my chest, I’ve been able to kinda talk to her and get things out, not using it as a therapy session, but I’ve been able to express my worries and the stresses that I’m going through and she’s been happy to listen and saying listen we can offer you this help.” (Parent)

Projects also provided signposting or referrals to external sources of support for a variety of issues, including housing, finances or accessing food.

Finally, parents highlighted that, apart from actively helping parents to resolve problems they were facing, just having understanding staff who listened could help them to feel supported and valued:

“You never forget the way that people made you feel, and the way that they make you feel is like, you feel supported, you feel surrounded by love.” (Parent)

Provision for parents

There were projects that ran provision for parents as well as children, with examples including peer support groups or talks from wellness professionals. These received positive feedback from parents taking part in this research, particularly activities that gave parents the opportunity to connect and support each other.

Impact on financial circumstances for families

There was evidence that families’ financial circumstances were improved through accessing the ACF-funded projects, although this was highly dependent on the extent to which families saved money on childcare fees and whether families would have used a paid-for service as an alternative.

While data in monitoring reports focused more on access to work as a means to boosting financial circumstances, interviews with families indicated that this outcome was also met through saving money on fees, being signposted to financial advice, and receiving financial support directly (such as food parcels) or indirectly (such as including transport or food at provision).

Reducing the costs of childcare

Making childcare affordable for families was the main factor mentioned by parents when discussing the impact on their financial circumstances. This was primarily related to removing or reducing the cost of childcare through providing subsidised places, but also flexible booking that only required families to pay for the hours they used. Families described being worse-off without the funded place, and having less money for everyday items such as food or household bills:

“[Without a subsidy] we’d really have to watch what we’re doing like driving, for petrol, and to make sure we have food and clothes for him and that.” (Parent)

[Without a funded place] “I think I would have really struggled especially during the winter months with the gas and electricity and stuff it has been a struggle, so not having to worry about that has helped a lot.” (Parent)

The Fund had also impacted on parents taking on debt, for example one parent had borrowed money for childcare before receiving a funded place.

The impact of funded places was strongly felt by parents of children with ASN who experienced additional savings, since childcare for children with complex ASN can be very expensive due to the extra staff time and skills required.

However, it is important to note that alternative childcare arrangements would have not necessarily required spending money, for example parents mentioned children staying at home while they worked or being picked up by family members or, for non-working parents, they would just forgo the respite.

Furthermore, one project lead raised concerns about the insecurity around future funding required to maintain affordable services on families who had become dependent on it.

Signposting to financial advice

As part of general family support, participants specifically recalled referrals to financial support or advice, for example to the Money Advice Service or to support with specific issues such as paying rent, as well as advice from projects on how families could save money.

Including other paid-for elements within the service

When projects included things that families would otherwise have had to pay for in their service, this was another way in which they could help families to save money. As mentioned previously, providing transport could save families money. Families also recalled receiving food parcels or food vouchers when they needed it, or having food provided as part of provision. Other items that projects provided included free sanitary products in the bathrooms or providing gifts for families at Christmas. It was also suggested that, when children attended provision, families would be able to save on energy and heating costs or the cost of pocket money for other activities.

Supporting parents with employment

As mentioned previously, by supporting parents into employment, or to further their careers, projects helped families to boost their household income. This was another way in which projects could boost families’ household income and reduce their risk of experiencing poverty (in line with the aims in the Tackling Child poverty Delivery Plan^[15] around helping parents to enter, sustain and progress in work). Projects gave examples of parents who they had supported into work who no longer required subsidies and could now afford a paid-for place. One parent explained how the funding allowed her to “go through the ranks” at work as she was able to commit to full time hours and secure two promotions:

“When I was able to have that childcare, that [was] affordable, I was able to progress as manager, and then up to five days, which hopefully would have impacted our financial and our family life and even professionally.” (Parent)