Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/826629
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 MAY 2017 9 News Universal childcare can break circle of poverty JURGEN BALZAN BOTH mainstream parties are proposing an extension of child- care services but with one major difference, the PN wants this to be universal. Labour, which introduced free childcare in 2014, says this should be conditional on parents having gainful employment. Education minister Evarist Bartolo has said it would be unjust to extend child- care when working parents con- tribute to the economy through their taxes, and said this risked re- introducing a mentality of reliance on social benefits. But anti-poverty campaigners insist free childcare should also be available to the poor and the un- employed. When the free childcare services were introduced in 2014 they were intended to bridge the gender em- ployment gap by enabling more women to enter gainful employ- ment. But Anna Borg, director of the University of Malta's Centre for Labour Studies, said universal childcare can mitigate social in- equalities and break the circle of poverty. Malta has the biggest gender employment gaps in the EU, with 81.4% of men in employment against 53.6% of women (aged 20-64), leading to a gap of 27.8%. This contrasts sharply with the gap in female and male employ- ment rates in Finland, which gap amounts to just 2.1%. While acknowledging that the gender employment gap is a com- plex one and does not depend solely on whether free childcare is available, Borg noted that between 2008 and 2016 there has been a positive increase in female partici- pation in all years. However, Borg said that the change since childcare was intro- duced for working families was be- low the average registered over the past 10 years. "Whilst there was a positive in- crease in all years, the average an- nual increase during this period (2008-2016) amounted to 1.98%. Free childcare was introduced in Malta in April 2014, and when looking at the yearly increase after that, in 2015 and 2016, the change was actually below the average in- crease registered over the whole period," she said. When looking specifically at the three years before the introduc- tion of free childcare, the increase in those years was higher than the average. On the other hand, the change in 2015 was 1.6 and 1.9 in 2016 over 2015. Asked what effect would an ex- tension of a free childcare scheme to poor, unemployed parents have on the labour market, Borg said childcare, "should be first and foremost about children and not their parents, like school and a good education is totally geared for children and we never ask for the employment status of parents before allowing three-years olds to get into free kindergartens." "So why should we discriminate against babies and children under three when we offer free educa- tion up to university level? This is insane because the free childcare scheme is about breaking the cir- cle of poverty and ensuring that those children who need it most can access it, regardless of the em- ployment status of their parents." Studies have shown that quality childcare minimises the number of early school leavers and facili- tates social mobility later on in life and Borg said that since the introduction of the new scheme in 2014, the issue of cost and afford- ability has been resolved since the service is being provided mainly free of charge to working parents. "This allows them a better choice of childcare, independent of their income, and in ways has created more social cohesion among eli- gible parents. However, there is a negative flipside in that children coming from the most deprived or disadvantaged households, such as families afflicted with mental health, drug abuse or other social problems, risk being left out of the system." Borg said that in such house- holds, it is more difficult to have both parents (or the single parent) in the formal labour market or fol- lowing educational courses at di- ploma or degree level. "Hence, there is a high risk that they would not be able to meet the eligible criteria if they are afflicted with such problems. This raises immediate concerns of social co- hesion, for it is a known fact that apart from increasing maternal employment rates, quality child- care can mitigate social inequali- ties in early life." Moreover, Borg said, the chil- dren most likely to benefit from quality childcare are those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. She added that childcare can provide a protective role for chil- dren and helps to address in part the children's living conditions in at-risk households with outcomes felt at later stages by minimising the number of early school leavers and facilitating social mobility. "Childcare centres can also play a role in flagging up neglect and abuse of children from disadvan- taged backgrounds. Hence as it stands, the eligibility criteria of the free childcare scheme in Malta may be excluding the most vulner- able children," Borg said. Employment Rate Female 20-64 (%) YEAR RAW (%) Change (pp) 2007 37.7 2008 39.4 1.7 2009 40.4 1 2010 41.6 1.2 2011 43.8 2.2 2012 46.6 2.8 2013 49.8 3.2 2014 52 2.2 2015 53.6 1.6 2016 55.5 1.9 AVERAGE 1.97778 'As it stands, the eligibility criteria of the free childcare scheme in Malta may be excluding the most vulnerable children' Anna Borg said children coming from the most deprived or disadvantaged households risk being left out of the system The current administration introduced free childcare for working parents in 2014