A study supported by the NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria is exploring how childcare provision and costs impact the health, employment and everyday lives of parents and carers in the North East.
Childcare is increasingly expensive and, like many other everyday essentials like food and energy, is becoming unaffordable for many families.
Despite recent changes to the number of free hours of childcare provided by the government and improved wraparound care, many people are still struggling to access childcare which meets their needs. Being unable to access childcare has important knock-on effects for the employment and wellbeing of parents and carers, as well as for children’s development.
The North East has the highest child poverty rates in England and has been hit particularly hard by the effects of austerity, the pandemic and more recently, the ‘cost of living crisis’.
It also has high economic inactivity and there is a large educational attainment gap between children in the North East and other parts of the country. Employment, wellbeing, poverty and school performance are all very closely linked to childcare. It is therefore important to understand experiences of childcare in the North East and the role it might play.
This study therefore aimed to better understand experiences of childcare in the North East and to produce some recommendations for what childcare should look like in the region.
Gathering evidence from lived experience
Researchers have been leading interviews and focus groups with a range of parents, carers and childcare providers across the North East. Though still ongoing, preliminary findings highlight:
- The emotional labour and burden of managing childcare
- Complexity of balancing childcare costs alongside other essential costs
- The inability to access adequate childcare hours without employment and the inability to access employment without adequate childcare hours
- The importance of local provision and geographical accessibility of informal networks and private childcare providers
The research team also organised a stakeholder workshop with 28 attendees from charities, local authorities, childcare providers and other third sector organisations.
The workshop provided a space for important discussions. Different perspectives were shared including particular challenges and recommendations for the North East. These included:
- The need for a strategic needs assessment to inform childcare policy in the region
- The difference in challenges within the region between urban and rural areas
- Poor pay and conditions for providers underpinning issues of childcare availability
- The role of early years childcare for supporting school readiness
The workshop findings were developed into the infographic, below.
What’s next?
This research was used as part of a report published in June 2025 by Health Equity North. ‘Childcare should not be a luxury: Exploring experiences of formal and informal childcare in North East England’.
The report was co-authored by Dr Natalie Bennett who completed this research during her ARC NENC Research Fellowship.
To find out more about this work, contact:
Natalie Bennett (formerly Newcastle University) at natalie.bennett@manchester.ac.uk
Steph Scott, Newcastle University at steph.scott@newcastle.ac.uk
Funding
This research was funded by Newcastle University and the Newcastle University Catherine Cookson Foundation Grant. Natalie Bennett was funded by ARC NENC during the project. Dr Steph Scott is a former ARC NENC Research Fellow and Associate Member of the ARC NENC.