Educator: ‘Childcare takes place of parents’

NZ Herald 1 April 2015
An early childhood educator says many people are losing confidence in how to be parents because they now see their role as going back to paid work as soon as possible after having a baby.

Dr Sarah Farquhar, a former chief executive of the Early Childhood Council who runs an independent professional network called Child Forum, says many parents are handing over their parental role to early childhood teachers.

“Teachers … are getting worried about parents not knowing what to do about little things to do with their children and basic parenting,” she said.

“For some babies childcare may be the best option, but there is a growing amount of worrying anecdotal evidence from early childhood teachers that they are seeing a loss of confidence in parenting, and in parents understanding their crucial role as their children’s ‘first teachers’.”

Census data showed that 37 per cent of parents of children under 1, and 57 per cent of parents of 1-year-olds, were either in or seeking paid work in 2013.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11426109

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