Innocenti Report Card 8

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Innocenti Report Card 8

• The child care transition
• A league table of early childhood education and
  care in economically advanced countries
• Innocenti Research Centre, Italy, December 2008

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Innocenti Research Centre

• Provides reports on the status of childrens
  wellbeing in advanced countries
• Benchmarks on a league table of minimum standards
  for the 24 (1) OECD countries
• RC8 researched and written by Peter Adamson and
  John Bennett

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United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCROC) 1989 Article 29

• The education of the child shall be directed to
  the development of the childs personality,
  talents and mental and physical abilities to
  their fullest potential (1989)

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A Great Change

• 1st generation in which majority are spending a
  large part of early life in out-of-home care (80
  of children in OECD)
• Neuroscience demonstrates quality relationships
  in earliest months and years are critical for all
  aspects of development.
• An advance or a setback??? An
  urgent question.

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RC8 The good news

• New Zealand achieved passes for 6 of the 10
  minimum standard benchmarks (attendance, quality,
  ratios, training)
• Ranked 7th overall against the other 24
  countries
• Beat all other English speaking countries

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Not good news

• NZ failed to achieve a pass for 4 benchmarks
• Insufficient parental leave
• NZ 14 weeks _at_ 50. 23rd of 25
• Lower than recommended spending (1 of gdp) on EC
  services.
• NZ 0.4 19th of 23
• High rate of poverty over 10 NZ 15
• No universal outreach of essential child health
  services

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More good news for NZ

• Over 95 of 4 year olds enrolled in ECE
• Enormous potential for good
• Well regulated, national plan, subsidies

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Warnings

• Potential for harm! An uncontrolled experiment
• Number of babies and infants 0-2 in long hours of
  child-care
• Lack of attachment to parent or emotionally
  available primary care giver
• Long term impact on social and psychological
  development
• Consensus that too early and for too long can be
  damaging.

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Dilemmas

• Economic imperatives for both parents to be in
  work force
• Womens right to be economically independent,
  realise career/personal aspirations and
  contribute to the workforce
• Benefits for children from less advantaged homes
• Professionalisation of parenting

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Cost benefits

• 1 invested in early years saves 8 in remedial
  spending such as..
• anti drug, alcohol education
• learning and behavioural difficulties
• delinquency, anti social and risk taking
  activities.

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Recommendations

• 1 year supported maternity/paternity leave
• Invest adequately in early years
• Universal support for parenting
• Eliminate child poverty

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Innocenti RC 8The child care transition

• Full report and comments from expert advisers on
  UNICEF NZ website
• www.unicef.org.nz