Did you know 2016 is ‘Year of the Dad’?
The Year of the Dad campaign has issued a rallying call to support dads, embrace family-friendly, inclusive practice and reflect the importance of fathers in child development. Quite rightly, the campaign states it’s time to ditch the gender stereotypes and celebrate the key contribution fathers make to child development, family and community life.
This got us thinking…why aren’t more men registered as childminders?
Of the 5572 registered childminders in Scotland, only 20 are male. That’s a measly 0.4 per cent of the total workforce .
Of course, there are many more men registered as assistants who are around to help in their wife’s or partner’s childminding service. However, their involvement is often restricted to school pick-up time or helping with lunches.
So, what’s stopping more men from registering as childminders? Could it be the outdated notion that looking after children is ‘a woman’s job’?
An online poll run by Scotland4Kids magazine asked parents how they would feel leaving their children with a male childminder or nursery worker.
Mum-of-two Michele said she would have no objections at all to a male childminder responding; “I think more men could be involved in childcare and would have no objections to my own children being cared for by a man. I suppose the reason most men don’t consider it could be low pay. In addition, as it’s considered to be a female job then it may be hard to break traditions and attract parents to enrol their kids.”
Her work colleague Lisa, mum of two daughters, agreed stating; “I would employ a male childminder although I haven’t come across any male childminders in my area. My daughter currently has a female childminder.”
The findings of the 2015 Men in Childcare report also show an eagerness to involve more men in the early learning and childcare workforce; “Ninety-eight per cent of female nursery workers say they want male colleagues; 77 per cent of the public (and 55 per cent of parents) are in favour of male early years’ workers; and 84 per cent of parents say they would place their children in a childcare setting employing male workers. Men’s concerns about the attitudes of parents, a failure among employers to proactively recruit men, and too few vocational training courses specifically marketed to men and designed to support them, are among the main barriers to entry in men’s participation in the early years and childcare workforce.”
Scottish Childminding Association supports the Year of the Dad campaign and wants to encourage more men to join the early learning and childcare workforce.
If you would like to find out more about the difference you can make to Scotland’s children as a childminder visit our website at childminding.org.
Find out more about the Year of the Dad campaign at yearofthedad.org.