The London School of Economics and Political Science Why Are

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The London School of Economics and Political Science Why Are View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by LSE Theses Online The London School of Economics and Political Science Why are childcare workers low paid? An analysis of pay in the UK childcare sector, 1994-2008 Ludovica Gambaro Thesis submitted to the Department of Social Policy of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, February 2012 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 105,955 words. 1 Abstract The thesis examines pay among British childcare workers from 1994 to 2008. It uses childcare as an example of female care occupations and selects the UK as a case study because in recent years childcare services have expanded substantially. As childcare provision has become increasingly formal, the issue of the rewards attached to this type of work has become more pressing. The thesis asks why childcare workers in the UK have traditionally received low pay and to what extent they continue to do so. It explores the changes in childcare policy that have taken place since the mid-1990s in order to understand whether Government’s increased commitment to childcare services has resulted in an improvement in workers’ pay. The thesis develops a multi-layered analysis. First, based on a review of policy documents and secondary sources, the thesis examines British childcare policy and identifies the challenges to higher pay in the sector. Second, the thesis investigates changes in the characteristics and pay of the childcare workforce between 1994 and 2008 by using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and from the Early Years and Childcare Providers survey. Finally, cultural assumptions about caring motivations and pay are explored on the basis of data from the LFS as well as findings from interviews with childcare workers. The thesis makes three main contributions. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and a variety of information sources, it offers evidence on changes in the remuneration of British childcare workers, paying close attention to the way childcare policy, education policy and labour market institutions influence wage levels. Furthermore, drawing from the example of childcare in the UK, the thesis contributes to the wider debate on the undervaluation of women’s work by pointing to some of the institutional dynamics that account for low pay in the sector. Finally, the thesis highlights the direct labour market impact of a childcare and early education policies, thus exploring an important dimension of welfare state analysis. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors for their guidance and support. Jane Lewis has taught me the importance of paying attention to the tiny details while keeping the bigger picture in sight. For her insights and comments, and for encouraging me to pursue my ideas, I am especially grateful. David Piachaud has introduced me to the field of social policy when I was still a master student. Since then, he has tirelessly coached me in the art of making things simpler and clearer. I am thankful for his considerable help in the process of this thesis. I thank all the workers I have interviewed, for their time, friendliness and willingness to share their experience. Their views and comments have been an invaluable help to my search better to understand their work. At the LSE, I have benefited from CASE/STICERD’s supportive and stimulating research environment. I would like to thank the participants to the Work in Progress seminars for their generous criticisms and suggestions. I am particularly grateful to Francesca Bastagli for all her advice, support and the many stimulating discussions. I wish to thank Kitty Stewart for her encouragements and for the discussions on early years. I am indebted to Sue Coles for her crucial help in more than one occasion. A special thank goes to Tiffany Tsang for her friendship and support. Katie Bates, Cheryl Conner, Joe Joannes and Laura Lane have been of great help in the very final stage of the thesis. Over the years, I have received important suggestions by many people. I would like to thank Ed Barnett, Francesca Borgonovi, Howard Glennerster, Rod Hick, Jonathan Roberts, Wendy Sigle-Rushton and Jane Waldfogel for reading drafts of part of this work. I thank Wolfgang Keck, Chiara Saraceno and Heike Solga for their helpful comments during the period in which I was visiting at the WZB. 3 I could not have completed this thesis without several good friends. I would like to thank Giulia Castelli, Francesco Fasani, Judith Fessehaie, Tommaso Frattini, Elena Meschi, Emmi Poteliakhoff, Francesca Santaniello, Beatrice Sbriscia, Tiffany Tsang and Astrid Winkler for their direct help and for the many conversations on some of the ideas developed here. My sister Elisa has been a source of continuous encouragement and, despite the distance, was always there at moments when the task seemed impossible. Florian has listened to my reading this work out loud for many years. For his support, patience and wit, I am deeply grateful. Above all, I thank my parents, who have been integrating education and care for more than thirty years. I dedicate this thesis to them. This thesis was supported by the Department of Social Policy, at the LSE, through the Titmuss-Meinhardt Scholarship. 4 Table of contents DECLARATION.................................................................................................... 1 ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................... 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................... 5 LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. 9 LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................... 11 LIST OF ACRONYMS .......................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 13 The problem ............................................................................................................... 16 The scope of the study................................................................................................ 21 The structure of the thesis .......................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 2 CARE WORK AND PAY: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .................. 25 Introduction................................................................................................................ 25 Gender issues: care as women’s work ....................................................................... 26 Care and the market............................................................................................... 30 Skills in childcare work: problems of recognition ..................................................... 34 Motivation to care and money: an uneasy mix .......................................................... 39 Women’s wages ......................................................................................................... 42 Research questions..................................................................................................... 45 Conclusions................................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 3 THE POLICY CONTEXT: EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES AND THEIR WORKFORCE ..................................................................................................... 49 Introduction................................................................................................................ 49 Early childhood services and their workforce before 1997 ....................................... 52 5 The structure of early childhood services .............................................................. 52 The training system ................................................................................................ 57 A fragmented workforce......................................................................................... 61 Changes in the provision of childcare and early education since 1997 ..................... 63 Labour’s first-term: laying the foundations........................................................... 63 Labour’s second term: finding a compromise ....................................................... 71 Beginning of Labour’s third term: too late to reform the childcare workforce?... 73 Reforming the childcare workforce: what are the challenges? .................................. 78 Conclusions................................................................................................................ 82 Appendix 3 A glossary of terms ...............................................................................
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