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Childcare, life chances and social justice

Gideon Calder Orcid Logo

Social Policy Review 30, Pages: 47 - 65

Swansea University Author: Gideon Calder Orcid Logo

Abstract

This article analyses how the 'life chances' agenda in UK social policy relates to questions about fair access to childcare, as a social justice issue. It provides an analysis of how the notion of 'life chance' has been invoked in recent UK government strategies and ministerial s...

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Published in: Social Policy Review 30
ISBN: 978-1447349990
Published: Bristol Policy Press 2018
Online Access: https://policypress.co.uk/social-policy-review-30
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40245
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Abstract: This article analyses how the 'life chances' agenda in UK social policy relates to questions about fair access to childcare, as a social justice issue. It provides an analysis of how the notion of 'life chance' has been invoked in recent UK government strategies and ministerial speeches, a basic elaboration of how ‘fair life chances’ might be understood, and a consideration of the difficulties encountered in identifying viable measures of life chances. It then addresses the pivotal place of childcare in any coherent ‘life chances’ agenda, and the value of a child-focused analysis as part of its wider articulation. The chapter concludes with a proposal that we address childcare as a ‘relationship good’ – a uniquely valuable form of relationship, the distribution of which should be treated as a basic matter of social justice and of a viable approach to ‘life chances’ in policy terms.
Keywords: life chances; childcare; social justice; children; parents
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Start Page: 47
End Page: 65