Parenting Survey Reveals 80pc Of Mums Are Worried About Quality Of Care In Creches.

19 July 2013

PARENTING SURVEY REVEALS 80PC OF MUMS ARE WORRIED ABOUT QUALITY OF CARE IN CRECHES.

EIGHT out of ten mums are concerned about the quality of care in Irish crèches following recent damning media reports.

Research conducted ahead of the forthcoming maternity & infant Awards has revealed how 80pc of mothers are worried their children are not receiving adequate care in Irish childcare facilities.

This follows on from recent media reports which revealed young children were being cruelly mistreated in crèches which are poorly regulated.

The wide-ranging survey, conducted on 500 mums and dads, provides an insightful snapshot of parenting in modern Ireland during one of the worst financial crises the country has ever faced.

The research was conducted to coincide with the launch of the 2013 maternity & infant Awards.

Voting and nominations for Ireland’s premier pregnancy and parenting awards event opened today.

 The research showed how finances are the top concern for parents, taking precedence even over their family’s health.

More than two fifths of those who responded to the online snapshot said their financial situation was their biggest worry, while just over 20pc named the health of their family as their number one concern.

Bullying and the effectiveness of their parenting were some of the other miscellaneous concerns.

Almost half (47%) of those surveyed said they do not currently have health insurance while one in two families has considered cancelling their health insurance over the past five years as a result of financial hardship.

Online safety

When it comes to online safety more than 60pc of parents believe the internet is not a safe place for children. To this end eight out of ten parents admitted to knowing the passwords for all of their children’s online email and social networking accounts.

However, more than 70pc of respondents claimed to allow their children to use their iPads, iPhones and other mobile devices unsupervised.

Despite the rising obesity epidemic among Irish children just half of those surveyed believe children were suffering negative health consequences as a result of spending too much time on electronic devices instead of doing physical activities.

Almost half of the parents surveyed said they allowed their children more than three hours of screen time on various devices each day.

Four out of ten respondents admitted to using gadgets such as iPhones and iPads to distract their children while out in restaurants etc.

More than half of women surveyed said they breastfeed their babies- this is compared to more than 80pc in in the UK, and in the region of 98 per cent in Nordic states such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

When it comes to feeding the family the survey revealed an increased health consciousness among Irish parents with almost 80pc saying they would look at packaging to discover the fat and salt content of food.

However 20pc of respondents admitted to getting takeaway food for their families once a week.

Now in their sixth consecutive year, the maternity & infant Awards 2013 commend the best in products and services available for mothers and infants throughout Ireland.

The awards also honour inspirational people who merit recognition for their acts of strength and bravery through tough times.

This year there are a huge range of product and service awards, ranging from Best Feeding Product and Best Baby Skincare to Best Family Supermarket and Best Family Website.

Event Director, Tracey Carney, highlighted the importance helping parents find the right products for their family. “As a parent I know mums an dads prioritise advice from other parents over brand marketing, so, when it came to reviewing the maternity & infant Awards process, we wanted to know not just what the best products were but also what experienced parents recommend and why. For this reason, we really felt it was really important for us to introduce product testing to the awards.  All winning products will receive the maternity & infant Awards voted, tested and approved by parents seal to use across their products to allow you, the parent, to identify maternity & infant Award-winners at a glance.  We feel that we have come a long way and look forward to testing the products and seeing who the winners are this year.”

The maternity & infant Awards 2013 will take place on October 25th, 2013 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin, where Martin King and Sybil Mulcahy will host the event.

Voting and nominating is quick and easy through the website at www.maternityandinfant.ie or via the Facebook app at www.facebook.com/maternityandinfant.

For the most up to date information follow the awards on Twitter @maternityinfant.