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1 – 10 of over 5000Political analyses of the East Asian welfare state development often stress the importance of the power resource model, in which vibrant coalitions between the leftist party…
Abstract
Purpose
Political analyses of the East Asian welfare state development often stress the importance of the power resource model, in which vibrant coalitions between the leftist party, interest groups, civil society and working-class unions have become driving factors in producing generous welfare outcomes. Challenging such analyses, this article discusses the convergence of the political attitude between political actors who are increasingly homogeneous (supportive) when it comes to the universal welfare state notion by focussing on childcare in South Korea.
Design/methodology/approach
By using desk review of the peer-reviewed literature and reports, this article investigates the causation for why political parties with different political ideologies were keen on extending childcare programs and its outcome in addressing the existing demographic problems in Korea.
Findings
Although the collective movement, especially in the 1990s and 2000s, had given important contributions to the early development of childcare in South Korea, more breakthroughs in childcare features were precisely and rapidly developed after politicians from different spectrums of political affiliations converged in their supportive attitude of the universal welfare. The driving factors of political convergence itself are not merely due to electoral competition or political activism; furthermore, it can be linked to the increased global institution involvement in domestic policy with extensive permeability, which, have ruined domestic policy development maintained for ideological reasoning and bring in more popular policy setting.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the growing literature on the political aspect of East Asian social policy studies, which goes beyond the traditional power resource analysis and makes a novel contribution to the childcare policy studies.
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Zarin Khan Moon and Md. Mahedi Hasan
This study aims to explore whether the working parents' perception about the necessity of childcare centres for their work efficiency is associated with their anxieties and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore whether the working parents' perception about the necessity of childcare centres for their work efficiency is associated with their anxieties and concerns related to their dual responsibilities, i.e. providing proper parental childcare and maintaining work efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 100 employed parents, from the Jashore region of Bangladesh, was surveyed, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.
Findings
It was revealed that there is a strong association between the perceived negative impact on job performance, childcare, child development, work efficiency and perceived need for a childcare centre.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study is that it was confined to Jashore University of Science and Technology. The results may differ from those of the study conducted outside this study area and the methodology used here.
Practical implications
This study has significant practical implications for employers, childcare service providers and policy makers, especially in Bangladesh. The employers will be able to understand the demand for childcare services centres among the employed parents in respective organizations. It will draw attention of employers of knowledge intensive industries and grants commission to the issue of conflict of work and childcare-related responsibilities of employed parents. This will also make employers conscious about the dilemma that is undergone by employed parents motivating them to take actions for minimizing such conflicts to ensure better job performance of working parents.
Social implications
Based on this study, childcare providers and other policy makers will be able to ascertain the potential size of the childcare market and determine the requirement for investment in childcare-related human resources development. As the work and childcare responsibilities compete for limited time of working parents, either childcare or job performance suffers. This causes concerns, anxieties or remorse, which again hampers the job performance further. Therefore, this study may motivate the university authority around the world, specifically those in Bangladesh, to provide childcare facilities for its faculties, students and other employees.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on growing demand for centre-based childcare services in an emerging economy context. It provides evidence of high demand for on- and off-site childcare centres to enhance work efficiency of working parents.
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The objective of this paper is to understand changes and progress of the Korean childcare regime by examining the evolutional process of childcare initiatives that were developed…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to understand changes and progress of the Korean childcare regime by examining the evolutional process of childcare initiatives that were developed since the Japanese colonial rule.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a qualitative-based research design with a particular emphasis on explanatory research. Meanwhile, the data were gathered through the peer-reviewed literature and reports.
Findings
The findings indicate that Korea has had three types of childcare regimes: effective-informal, productivist and inclusive-liberal orientation. It also pinpoints that while the care regime development followed the European regime, the egalitarian society, which is a social prerequisite for modern welfare state-building, has not yet been fully established. This paradoxical situation eventually impedes the development of universal childcare aimed at promoting gender equality and a work-life balance.
Originality/value
This article offers a model and characteristics of the Korean childcare regime dating back to the Japanese colonial period up until the Moon Jae-In administration, where it still receives less attention in most of the social policy literature (see Table 1).
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in local childcare policy that have taken place between the years 2008 and 2016 in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland, and to study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in local childcare policy that have taken place between the years 2008 and 2016 in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland, and to study how the local gender contract for women is being reshaped via these transformations in local policy.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study was applied as a research strategy. Local and national level statistics were used to explore the use of childcare services. Documents regarding the decision-making and administration of childcare in the city were analysed to distinguish the local policy changes during the time period. These documents include city budgets and records from the two municipal boards that have held the administrative responsibility of local childcare policy. The analysis of the data was conducted by using document analysis and feminist content analysis as a methodological framework.
Findings
The results show that the overall development in local childcare policy has been towards cutbacks in childcare services and benefits, and towards the marketisation of childcare services. The city has also implemented new, locally specific childcare policies, which constitute a hybrid form of marketisation and neofamilism. Together these developments are creating a new local gender contract, which goes beyond the past previous traditional or modern models. This new local gender contract for women is defined as that of “entrepreneurial homemaker”.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the research on local social policy by identifying the role of local childcare policy in reshaping the gender contract in a Nordic context. This paper advances the theorisation of the concept of gender contract by introducing the “entrepreneurial homemaker” model of gender contract.
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Wanna Prayukvong, Amporn Sornprasith and Morris John Foster
This paper aims to study parental expectations of and satisfaction with overall services of preschool centres and to determine the factors which affect parents’ satisfaction in a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study parental expectations of and satisfaction with overall services of preschool centres and to determine the factors which affect parents’ satisfaction in a part of one of Thailand’s southern provinces.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from parents of children attending 29 day-care or preschool centres in Songkhla Province, South Thailand, over a two-month period in the Spring 2014. The data were analysed mainly using descriptive statistics and some correlation analyses with subsequent logical interpretation.
Findings
Given the location and non-compulsory nature of the childcare provision being assessed, it would seem fair to say that the answer to the overarching objective was fairly positive. Expectations were non-trivial; parents looked for more than “baby-minding” and expected there to be some appropriately qualified staff. The perceived satisfaction levels indicate that there is nevertheless scope for improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The sample studied is from a limited geographical region of Thailand; hence, there must be some caution in making recommendations for the whole country.
Practical implications
As the outcomes being delivered are seen to be mainly positive by parents and guardians, the policy implication for the Thai Government is that they should continue to promote, and ideally enhance, this kind of early years provision. Results suggest that Thai parents would be well advised to make use of childcare centres to promote the socialisation and development of their children.
Originality/value
The originality of the work derives from the lack of similar systematic studies in Thailand and, in particular, for the rural southern provinces.
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Family policy is an area where policy transfer has garnered a lot of attention lately. A growing body of research demonstrates policymakers' interest in and willingness to adopt…
Abstract
Purpose
Family policy is an area where policy transfer has garnered a lot of attention lately. A growing body of research demonstrates policymakers' interest in and willingness to adopt foreign family policies. However, previous studies have tended to neglect the second mechanism of policy transfer: resistance. This manuscript aims to address this research gap by exploring both the willingness and resistance to policy transfer in Czech and Korean childcare and leave policies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a qualitative research design, incorporating structured expert interviews instrumental in in-depth thematic analysis.
Findings
The analysis shows that policymakers in both countries demonstrated interest and willingness to transfer family policies, albeit employing different strategies and to varying extents. Moreover, the two countries exhibited significant differences in resistance to family policy transfer, with resistance in the Czech Republic being more frequent and effective. Resistance is directed towards both forced and voluntary transfers, although it isn't always against transfers that require a paradigm change. Policy transfer and non-transfer can concurrently be perceived as threats.
Originality/value
The study concludes that integrating both policy transfer and resistance in the analyses helps to shed light on cross-national differences in family policy change and contributes to a more nuanced portrayal of the world of policy transfer in this policy field.
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Fuad Abujarad, Allissa Desloge, Kristina Carlson and Sarah J. Swierenga
As child abuse and neglect in childcare settings continue to occur, a quality childcare workforce is imperative. This paper aims to describe how an efficient and effective…
Abstract
Purpose
As child abuse and neglect in childcare settings continue to occur, a quality childcare workforce is imperative. This paper aims to describe how an efficient and effective childcare Workforce Background Check system was developed and implemented to protect both children and childcare staff in the state of Michigan.
Design/methodology/approach
The user-centered design (UCD) approach was used in the creation and statewide implementation of a new acceptable and usable system, the Michigan childcare background check (CCBC) system. The authors conducted focus groups to obtain user feedback and performed several usability evaluations. This approach was used as guidance for the development process and to evaluate the concept designs for the web application that was created.
Findings
This paper discusses the overall process of implementing the CCBC program, focusing on successes, barriers and lessons learned in the planning, designing and execution phases. By May 2019, more than 92,069 background checks were conducted on personnel in 8,740 licensed childcare facilities across Michigan. Collaboration across stakeholders in different sectors facilitated the implementation of the new system, while structural barriers and stigma provided barriers to implementation.
Practical implications
Having individuals with various roles, abilities and technical expertise assist with the development and implementation of the system ensured the usability and acceptability of the new system by all types of users.
Social implications
The general public expects childcare providers to ensure that their employees meet the highest professional standards. Developing effective, easy-to-use fingerprint-based criminal history background check systems to identify ineligible applicants and monitor current employees is one component of an overall strategy to promote child safety and minimize child abuse and neglect in the childcare environments.
Originality/value
This paper provides a practical example of how a CCBC system can be developed, implemented and scaled to be used statewide. This approach can be used by other states or other disciplines with a similar context.
Plain language summary
As child abuse and neglect in childcare settings continue to occur, a quality childcare workforce is imperative. This paper shows how this study uses the UCD approach to create an acceptable and usable system and complete statewide implementation of a new Michigan CCBC program. This resulted in an efficient and effective Workforce Background Check system that is essential to protect both children and childcare staff.
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Trynke Keuning, Rachel Verheijen-Tiemstra, Wenckje Jongstra and René Peeters
In the Netherlands, childcare and primary schools are governed by two different systems of two ministries, and although these institutes are usually located nearby, there always…
Abstract
In the Netherlands, childcare and primary schools are governed by two different systems of two ministries, and although these institutes are usually located nearby, there always have been low levels of cohesion with respect to institute-to-institute collaboration. However currently, there is a national trend in enhancing interprofessional collaboration (IPC) with the aim of inclusion and equity. This study focuses on getting insight into the differences in intensity of collaboration and how IPC is organized. A two-dimensional Child Centre Integration Model which accounts for the variations in the degree of IPC in child centres and gives insight into IPC at different levels and into conditions for intensifying IPC is presented. That Dutch education and childcare systems do not connect with each other is seen to be an important cause of the failure or complication of IPC. Because the systems do not connect at the macro level, we see struggles in the necessary normative dimension due to status differences (i.e., inequality between employees) and differences in funding and autonomy. Differences between public (education) and private (childcare) institutions also lead to difficulties when it comes to fostering closer collaboration. This chapter ends with key lessons for practice and policy, including the suggestion that one strong ministry for child affairs, including education and childcare, which stimulates an unambitious course at national level, is required. This course can then be translated at regional and local levels.
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This article analyses UK Early Years policy in terms of service expansion and service transformation since the Labour Government's election in 1997. Childcare is now a matter of…
Abstract
This article analyses UK Early Years policy in terms of service expansion and service transformation since the Labour Government's election in 1997. Childcare is now a matter of public policy, driven largely by concerns about child poverty and inequalities in children's life chances. The evidence is considered, first, on service expansion, increased take‐up and increased employment by parents with young children, and, second, on service transformation and child outcomes: to what extent have changes benefited disadvantaged children, families and neighbourhoods? The Effective Provision of Preschool Education (EPPE) research shows that pre‐school can boost disadvantaged children's intellectual development in particular, and the article concludes that programmes such as Sure Start and Neighbourhood Nurseries have been successfully targeted at the most disadvantaged areas, although better‐off families and neighbourhoods may have benefited even more, and that problems of cost and sustainability remain. It is too early to judge whether better integrated services now being developed will be successful in transforming the lives of the most disadvantaged children.
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This purpose of this paper is to examine how working mothers understand childcare practices and perception on existing childcare centres in a different social context like Sri…
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to examine how working mothers understand childcare practices and perception on existing childcare centres in a different social context like Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
A thematic analysis approach is used to analyse mothers’ narratives, drawn from in-depth qualitative interviews, along with data from some representative secondary sources.
Findings
The paper considers women professional and managerial employees in Sri Lanka, and demonstrates that working mothers use diverse childcare arrangements to harmonise their work and family life, strongly believing their own mother as the best caregiver for their small children.
Research limitations/implications
This study represented only middle-class mothers, therefore the research suggested that different mothers (professional and managerial) take their decisions differently. Based on this argument, it can be expected that mothers of different occupations are more likely to take different decisions as they believe what is “right and proper”. Thus, extensive research is warranted.
Practical implications
This paper discusses the implications while extending the geographical scope of the literature on mothers’ gender ideology on childcare and existing practices in childcare centres.
Social implications
State and private organizations should consider investments in childcare support and other flexible work options so that women continue to remain in their careers.
Originality/value
The paper extends the geographical scope of the literature on mothers’ gender ideology on childcare and existing practices in childcare centres. This would be the first research article directly focused on the impact of working mothers’ gender ideologies on childcare and perception on existing childcare centres in Sri Lanka. Thus, the present study provides a number of new research avenues for future researchers to use.
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