Current knowledge about OSC

• Author: Ludwinek, Anna; Clevers, Franziska
• Pages: 3-5

3

This chapter reviews the available academic and

non-academic publications in the area of childcare

provision outside of official school hours. As there is no

agreed common definition of OSC, Eurofound examined

different labels that have been applied by the research,

including ‘after-school care’ (Forsberg and Strandell,

2007), ‘out-of-school’ service (IBEC, 2016; OECD, 2016),

‘school-age care’ (Harms, 2013) or ‘wraparound

childcare’ (UK Government, 2017). In this report, all

these different types of care are regarded as OSC

services.

Overall, OSC has been a subject of research for several

reasons. The majority of the available publications have

assessed the national context2 or reviewed cases that

focused on the current status of childcare provision,

including its quality. It seems that the key driver and the

main research interest has been related to child

development and social integration. In those studies,

both formal and informal childcare provision were the

focus, with services for schoolchildren (OSC) as a

subcategory (Rutter and Evans, 2011; Janta, 2014). Such

a broad focus made it difficult to highlight the role and

the impact of the formal OSC provisions specifically. The

first international study covering the entire EU

determined that formal OSC is not yet adequately

provided (European Commission, 2013). Still,

systematic information from policy-driven research on

childcare for schoolchildren, while slowly increasing, is

scarce (European Commission, 2013; Cartmel and

Hayes, 2016; Plantenga and Remery, 2017).

The direct linkage between childcare services and the

improvement of equal employment opportunities or

work–life balance whilst not a new topic on the

European political agenda,3 as this literature review

shows this has not been an area of significant research

focus. Until recently little attention has been paid to the

linkages between out-of-school care services and the

labour situation of parents especially focusing on labour

integration of women (Barker et al, 2003; Skinner, 2005;

European Commission, 2013; Plantenga and Remery,

2017).

Research focus

Previously, the research focus on OSC provision

explored two different angles.

1. Predominantly, OSC activities and facilities were

studied in the context of child development and

well-being. Overall, there is a solid body of research

on OSC quality,4 which focuses on social and

academic benefits for the child along with the

aspiration to foster social cohesion and social

integration, especially for children with a migratory

background or children living in a

socioeconomically deprived context (Marshall et al,

1997; Horgan et al, 2018).

2. The other, still under-researched, area explores the

nexus of OSC provision as a tool to reconcile

work–life imbalances and parental labour market

participation. Cartmel and Grieshaber (2014, p. 23)

identify ‘a lack of understanding and appreciation

of the role played by SAC [school-age care] in the

lives of contemporary families’.

Types of OSC

OSC as a specific form of childcare can be provided

either formally or informally (Rutter and Evans, 2011;

Ellingsæter et al, 2017; UK Government, 2017; EVA,

2018). The consensus is that both types should include

homework support, recreational activities, sport and

creative events to foster positive child development or

to provide a protected environment. The latter is driven

by the idea of reconciling parental work–life balance

(Barker et al, 2003; OECD, 2011).

In cases where no formal OSC provisions are available

or they are not affordable, parents may depend on

informal childcare systems to reconcile school hours

with working hours. While, in many countries, the

provision of formal OSC is increasing, informal care still

plays a crucial role and, in some countries, may be the

preferred option (Rutter and Evans, 2011). Formal OSC

can be facilitated by schools but can also be delivered in

the school building. As Strandell (2013) highlighted,

1Current knowledge about OSC

2Most of those studies received government funding.

3 The nexus of childcare and family–work life had been taken up by the European Council with the ‘Barcelona targets’ in 2002. Those targets, however,

aimed at increasing childcare provision for children grouped into below three years and from three years until end of mandatory school age, thus, not

within the scope of this Eurofound study.

4Here, OSC means after-school clubs and other organised leisure or educational activities outside school hours.