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

Innocenti Research Centre Provides reports on the status of children’s 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

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 child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential (1989)

A Great Change 1 st 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.

RC8: The good news New Zealand achieved passes for 6 of the 10 minimum standard benchmarks (attendance, quality, ratios, training) Ranked 7 th = overall against the other 24 countries Beat all other English speaking countries

Not good news NZ failed to achieve a pass for 4 benchmarks 1.Insufficient parental leave NZ = 14 50%. 23 rd of 25 2.Lower than recommended spending (1% of gdp) on EC services. NZ= 0.4%19 th of 23 2.High rate of poverty – over 10%: NZ = 15% 3.No universal outreach of essential child health services

More good news for NZ Over 95% of 4 year olds enrolled in ECE “Enormous potential for good” Well regulated, national plan, subsidies

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”.

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

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.

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

Innocenti RC 8:The child care transition Full report and comments from expert advisers on UNICEF NZ website