Should the State Play Nanny? Bob Reitemeier Chief Executive The Children’s Society London

1. Should the State Play Nanny? Bob Reitemeier Chief Executive The Children’s Society London 26 November 2004 With children, for children, with you

2. Should the State Play Nanny? What do we mean by ‘nanny’? • The state, the parent and the child • Policy areas, eg Choosing Health • Regulation of industry / Influencing behaviour With children, for children, with you

3. Should the State Play Nanny? “Nanny” – Oxford dictionary Noun: • A woman employed to look after a child in its own home. • A female goat. Adjective: Interfering and overprotective: the nanny state. With children, for children, with you

4. Should the State Play Nanny? The relationship between parent & child • Every Child Matters and the Children Act • We must do better With children, for children, with you

5. Should the State Play Nanny? The roles of the state • Enabler • Corporate parent With children, for children, with you

6. Should the State Play Nanny? The state as an enabler • What is the role of the state as an enabler? • What is causing us to revisit this role today? • What should change as a result? With children, for children, with you

7. Should the State Play Nanny? The state as an enabler • Providing restrictions, eg physical punishment of children • Providing an enabling environment within which parent – child relationships can prosper. With children, for children, with you

8. Should the State Play Nanny? Why revisit the state’s role today? • Beyond children’s services reform. • Changes in what we mean by ‘childhood’ • Welfare state => Thatcherism => Today? With children, for children, with you

9. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? Family THENNOW Mortality: under 5 yrs old (1960) 27 per 1000 7 per 1000 (2002) Mortality: under 1 yrs old (1960) 23 per 1000 5 per 1000 (2002) Proportion of lone parent HHs (1971) 3% 6% (1991) Divorces (1950) 40,000 157,000 (2001) Children under the age of 16 (1971) 14.3m 12.1m (2000) With children, for children, with you

10. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? 1951-551996-00 Births: Outside marriage 15-19 year olds 141,000 258,000 20-44 year olds 837,0001,160,000 Total 978,000 (6%) 1,418,000 (42%) Within marriage 15-19 year olds 499,000 31,000 20-44 year olds 14,266,0001,922,000 Total 15,743,000 (94%) 3,371,000 (58%) Births to teenage mothers 59,000 (2000) With children, for children, with you

11. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? Drug Use 19982003 Used drugs in the last year 11-15 year olds - all drugs 11% 21% 11-15 year olds - cannabis 7% 13% 16-24 year olds - all drugs 29% 28% 16-24 year olds - cannabis 29% 26% With children, for children, with you

12. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? TV, Computer, Mobile Phones Access to TV 99% of households have access to TV Access to computer 4/5 CYP have access to home computer Access to internet >50% of CYP have access to internet (home) Mobile phones <20% of primary age CYP have phones 60% of secondary age CYP have phones With children, for children, with you

13. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? Diet and health Obesity Childhood obesity - tripled in last 20 years Food industry Global advertising budget is $40 billion. Advertising: Greater than the GDP of 70% of countries. With children, for children, with you

14. 25.0% % with difficulties 20.4% 20.0% 16.9% 16.7% 15.0% 13.4% 13.1% 13.3% 12.8% 12.1% 11.1% 10.0% 8.6% 8.3% 7.6% 7.8% 7.8% 7.1% 6.6% 6.0% 5.7% 5.0% 0.0% Behaviour Hyperactivity Emotional 1974 Boys 1974 Girls 1986 Boys 1986 Girls 1999 Boys 1999 Girls Should the State Play Nanny? Nuffield Study Nuffield Study: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Nov. 2004 With children, for children, with you

15. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? Stress and mental health Norwich Union Healthcare study, 400 parents surveyed, all with children between the ages of 5 and 15: 78% felt their CYP were under greater pressure than they experienced. 24% felt out of touch or distant from their children. 74% worried that lack of communication in families => problems. 58% did not know where to go for help. With children, for children, with you

16. Should the State Play Nanny? What is different? Data we do not yet have… ADD / ADHD and its link to diet, artificial additives, zinc, fatty acids, genetic predisposition… The increasing levels of anxiety experienced by teenagers – is the same phenomenon occurring with younger children? What is the cumulative impact of ‘environmental’ changes on our children? With children, for children, with you

17. Should the State Play Nanny? What should change as a result? Parents and children require more and different help than is currently provided. • Childhood, and therefore parenting, is more complex. • We need to better understand the needs of both. • We need to better understand the rights of both. • We need to better understand the environment we live in. With children, for children, with you

18. Should the State Play Nanny? What should change as a result? • Enable the individual relationship between the child and the primary carer to develop. • Emphasise the first year of life, eg brain development and stress. • Enable and support the parent – AND involve children! With children, for children, with you

19. Should the State Play Nanny? What should change as a result? • Invest significantly in community facilitators. • Parent to parent works better than state to parent. • Present children positively – by the government and the press. With children, for children, with you

20. Should the State Play Nanny? Love and care for our children. Enable parents to be better carers, better teachers. Every child should be made to feel precious. With children, for children, with you

21. Should the State Play Nanny? This does not describe a nanny state. This is a caring state. With children, for children, with you

22. The Children’s Society We look at the world through the eyes of children and never flinch from what we see. With children, for children, with you

23. Should the State Play Nanny? List of Sources Mortality rates: www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uk-statistics.html Births 1951-2000: Births, 1938-2002, Office of National Statistics. Population: Social Focus in Brief: Children 2002, Office of National Statistics, 2002. Drug Use: Department of Health Statistical Bulletin: Statistics on Young People and Drug Use 1998, Office of National Statistics: 1998. Department of Health Statistical Bulletin: Statistics on Young People and Drug Use 2003, Office of National Statistics: 2003. Access to Technology: Social Focus in Brief: Children 2002, Office of National Statistics: 2002. Obesity: House of Commons Obesity Report, Health Committee Press Release, 26 May 04. Food Marketing: Broadcasting Bad Health: Why food marketing to children needs to be controlled, A report by the International Association of Consumer Food Organisations (IAFCO) for the World Health Organisation consultation on a global strategy for diet and health, IAFCO, July 2003. Parents on Children’s Health: BBC on-line report on the Norwich Union Healthcare study, October 2004. With children, for children, with you