Life

More men in childcare 'would be a good thing'

Only 2 per cent of UK early years childcare workers are male. Lisa Salmon talks to the Fatherhood Institute about their drive to get more men working in the sector

Male child carers say you learn a lot, and it's really great fun
Male child carers say you learn a lot, and it's really great fun Male child carers say you learn a lot, and it's really great fun

MOST men would love to be 'a hero every day'. But although that's the way working as a male child-carer has been described by men themselves, there are still only a handful of males working in the field.

Despite years of progress towards greater gender balance in many professions, the early years education and childcare workforce remains stubbornly dominated by female staff - the latest figures show that only 2 per cent are male.

But the Fatherhood Institute charity is striving to change this, pointing out that although there are plenty of men with experience of looking after their own children, a huge effort is needed to make early years education and childcare jobs more attractive and accommodating for men.

The institute has produced a Men in Childcare guide, offering recommendations for how to improve recruitment. "Governments have been talking about wanting to improve male representation in the early years workforce for many years now, but we're still a long way from cracking this," says Fatherhood Institute chief executive Adrienne Burgess. "Our message to men is this: you're just as capable of making a success of a career in early years and childcare. Be a pioneer."

The Institute says barriers to male recruitment include:

  •  Lack of relevant information and careers advice about working in early years education and childcare.
  •  Too few vocational training courses marketed at men and designed with men in mind.
  •  A failure among employers to proactively recruit men and ensure workplaces are welcoming to male staff.
  • Negative attitudes and stereotyping about men who work in childcare.
  • Low pay, which is also a concern for female recruits.

"Everyone assumes that men don't go into childcare because of low pay," says Burgess, "but those who enter childcare jobs without other qualifications aren't going to be well paid whatever they do. "It is a low pay area, but there is career progression, and one of the reasons it's stayed low paid is that it's a very satisfying job."

Career progression, she says, includes advocacy work with children, nursery management, local authority roles in childcare funding an children's charity work.

Burgess says: "Once you have a qualification in childcare, you have a recognised skill that can be used in many related areas � aside from the fact that people who learn to work with children are likely to become better parents." Male childcare workers may not even want to change their role, as looking after children for a living can be so rewarding, Burgess points out. She says male childcarers have told her that, as well as opening up a lot of careers, they felt they were really noticed at work, with one saying, "You're a hero every day". "What he meant is that the children love you," explains Burgess. "Because men in childcare are unusual, every child who sees a male worker hangs off his hands the whole time. They stand out and they're a hero every day.

"Male childcarers say it doesn't feel like a job. you learn a lot, and it's really great fun. They feel that bringing children up is a worthwhile career." What is crucial, she stresses, is thorough safeguarding by childcare providers to prevent child abuse of any kind. "Safeguarding is important both for the men themselves, who are always fearful about some allegation being made against them, and for the nurseries," says Burgess. If childcare providers, training institutions and local authorities advertise proactively for male childcarers to train or get jobs within childcare, the results are likely to be positive both for men and the children they look after, stresses Burgess. "When children walk into a nursery and see an entirely female workforce, they go home believing only women look after children. Such gender stereotypes help nobody. We need diversity, and without men, you have the most fundamental non-diversity. Men have no less skills than women in looking after children, it's not a gender thing.

"And for the nurseries themselves, I think having male staff could be a huge pull for parents if it's properly marketed. If I was running a nursery, I would use it as its unique selling point."

  • To see the Young Men in Childcare guide, click here.