According to a Labour Force Survey from the Office of National Statistics from Winter 2002-2003, 65% of all women with dependent children go out to work, a figure which has risen from 52% since 1991. The increase is even greater for mothers whose youngest dependent child is under five, where the figure has leapt from 31% to 52%. Yet, as of 2001, only a third of those mothers used professional or registered childcare - over half of all working mothers relied on informal childcare arrangements with a partner, a relative or a friend. Set against that, four out of five non-working mothers said they would work if they could have the childcare of their choice, and one in seven mothers who would like to work cited childcare as the obstacle to finding employment.

The problem faced by mothers across the UK is a national shortage of high quality, affordable, accessible childcare and the Government has been forced to take steps over the past few years to tackle the complex childcare issue head-on. As part of its 1998 Green Paper ‘Meeting the Childcare Challenge’ the Government acknowledged the need for a National Childcare Strategy, and pledged to provide quality, affordable childcare for children aged 0-14 in every neighbourhood, promising an additional one million places in England by 2004. This was an ambitious target considering the estimated 850,000 childcare places available to 5.1 million under fives at the time.

In England, the responsibility for planning and providing the increased number of childcare and early education places at local level has fallen to the 150 Sure Start Partnerships across the country, who will also be the point of contact for information and advice about local childcare resources for families through ChildcareLink (link below). These partnerships, representing all the key sectors with an interest in childcare including childcare providers, parents, local authorities, employers and educators, have been set the additional objective of trying to help parents achieve a better work/life balance.

Quality assurance is another important aspect of the Government’s pledge. In order to achieve this, they have embarked on a programme to raise and streamline childcare standards across the local authority, private and voluntary sectors in accordance with the Care Standards Act 2000. In September 2001, responsibility for registration and annual inspection of childminders and daycare services - both workforce and premises - was transferred from the social services department of local authorities to OFSTED (The Office for Standards in Education). At the moment regulation is still limited to Under Eights services, although there is a considerable support for extending it up to 14. OFSTED now investigates any complaints made about registered childcare providers and takes the relevant action. You can read about OFSTED's role in regulating childcare and see OFSTED reports on childcare providers online (you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access the reports but this is easy to download.)

You can reach the OFSTED Childcare helpline (complaints and concerns) on .

The Scottish Executive created the Care Commission through the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. The Care Commission has now assumed responsibility for the regulation of early education and childcare services, working with HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and producing integrated inspection reports which you can view online. Regulation of early education and childcare: The Way Ahead was the Scottish Executive's consultation document on the subject.

See Meeting the Childcare Challenge: A Childcare Strategy for Scotland, published in May 1998 with the aim of developing and implementing a childcare strategy for Scotland, childcare regulation and pre-school education.

The Care Standards Act 2000 gave the National Assembly for Wales the powers to establish a new, comprehensive social and health care regulator - the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSIW) - in April 2002. The CSIW is responsible for regulating all daycare services for children, including day nurseries, childminders, playgroups, out-of-school clubs, creches and playschemes. Visit the Welsh Education Department website for a summary of its National Childcare Strategy.

In Northern Ireland, have a look at the Northern Ireland Childcare Strategy, Children First.