Large families 'trapped' in poverty crisis

Published on Sunday 25 January 2004 00:00

PARENTS and children in large families are "trapped" in a life of poverty because of the lack of affordable childcare, according to new report published today.

Childcare provision was "patchy and expensive", preventing many women from returning to work or forcing them to work fewer hours to fit around their arrangements, research found.

The TUC and the Day-care Trust said parents paid out 1.8bn to day nurseries in 2002, adding that measures to help parents with their childcare costs took no account of the extra cost of having three or more children.

The traditional link between family size and poverty had not been broken, argued the report.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Childcare, or rather the lack of it, has a lot to answer for. Being unable to work because costly childcare remains way beyond the family budget is condemning hundreds of thousands of larger families to a life of poverty.

"Childcare is now one of the most pressing concerns for unions and parents both in and out of work. The government has made a good start, now it’s for ministers, local councils, employers and unions to grasp the challenge and help make childcare a reality for every parent who wants it."

The report, written for the two organisations by academic and childcare expert Professor Hilary Land, said that, although only a third of all children were in large families of three or more children, they accounted for half of all poor children.

Some minority ethnic groups were particularly affected, the findings showed.

Nearly a third of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian families had three or more children compared with 18% of white families, and these groups were more likely to have very low incomes.

Day-care Trust director Stephen Burke said: "Childcare is crucial to lift families out of poverty. This report highlights the price many families are paying because caring responsibilities limit employment and training opportunities. The government must act to help larger families break this cycle of poverty."