The community want to improve their estate

A lack of childcare facilities is preventing women on a deprived south Wales estate getting access to training and work, a report has found.

An assessment of the Gellideg housing estate in Merthyr Tydfil found gender stereotyping to be one of the biggest obstacles to tackling poverty.

Gellideg has some of the highest levels of unemployment and economic inactivity in Wales.

The report presents the findings of a gender needs assessment carried out by the Gellideg Foundation Group, a locally run community organisation, with support from Oxfam Cymru.

Over four months, they interviewed residents of the estate and found that, although men and women faced many of the same problems, they reacted differently to them.

It revealed that women shouldered the responsibility of childcare as part of an unwritten 'gender contract' which put men in the traditional role of breadwinner.

"Inadequate childcare is a major barrier to women training and working.

"If there is no family support, women can find themselves very isolated," said Colette Watkins of the Gellideg Foundation Group.

The report found women looked for work that fitted around the needs of their children and allowed them to be home to provide after-school care.

These part time jobs are frequently low paid jobs in the service sector with limited opportunities for advancement.

The findings reflect a worrying trend across Wales.

Figures from the Welsh Assembly show there are only enough places to cover 22% of pre-school children on a part-time basis across Wales.

They say the situation in Merthyr Tydfil is even worse, with no provision by the local authority, and private places for just 11% of children under the age of five.

Local Heroes

Members of the Gellideg Foundation Group

The Gellideg Foundation Group was started by six mothers in 1998.

"We didn't want our kids growing up bored, with nothing to do, getting into trouble,"" said Mandy Jenkins, a founder member and financial manager of the Foundation.

In March 2002, they successfully applied for �500,000 of Objective One funding, the EU's highest level of regional aid, to be paid over three years.

The money is being used to regenerate the area, provide training and jobs.

They have bought a disused former club which will be transformed into a creche, with staff taken from the estate.

Oxfam, better known for its work relieving poverty abroad, set up the UK Poverty Programme in 1996 to bring those skills back home.

"We couldn't ignore the poverty on our doorstep" said Helen Buhaenko, Oxfam Cymru's development officer for the program in Wales.

Oxfam provided information and training to Foundation members to assist them in carrying out the assessment, and in finding out what they needed to improve the lives of people on the estate.