Coronavirus: 76% think having nanny or cleaner in the home is ‘unacceptable’ – poll

Around three-quarters of Britons believe it is unacceptable to have a nanny or cleaner from another household come round during the lockdown, a poll suggests.

In a survey of 1,069 British adults taken before coronavirus restrictions were eased in England, 76% said nannies from different households should not be allowed to provide childcare, while 9% were in favour.

Just 12% supported the idea of having a cleaner come round, and 73% were against it.

From Wednesday, those doing both jobs are permitted to return to work in other people’s homes.

An Ipsos-MORI survey, conducted between 8 May and 11 May, asked members of the public about what behaviour was acceptable during restrictions caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Researchers found similar sentiment about seeing partners people are not living with, but with differences between the generations and according to marital status.

About 70% of those polled said they were not happy with people seeing their girlfriend or boyfriend during lockdown if they were from a different household, while 15% said it was okay.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of those aged 18 to 34 were fine with it, but acceptance dropped to 9% among those aged between 55 and 75.

One in five (21%) single people said it was acceptable, decreasing to 13% of those married, cohabiting, separated, divorced or widowed.

Many parents are used to relying on their own parents for help with childcare in normal times, but that has largely ended since the lockdown as older people are more vulnerable.

A little under a quarter (22%) said it was fair to use friends and family under the age of 70 being for childcare, but this fell to 12% if that friend or family member was over the age of 70.

Some two in five (40%) said people should be allowed to exercise outdoors for longer than two hours, while 38% disagreed.

The poll was conducted before lockdown restrictions were eased in England, allowing people to take “unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise”.

Research director Keiran Pedley said: “From this week, nannies and cleaners will be allowed to return to work but our survey over the past weekend shows that few think having people in their homes to do these jobs is acceptable in the current climate.

“Of course, this may change as new rules are better understood but given public caution at easing lockdown restrictions, we should not expect things to return to normal overnight.”

Another 494 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK have died, taking the total to 33,186, the Department of Health has said.

The latest daily figure is for coronavirus-related fatalities in hospitals, care homes and the community, reported in a 24-hour period up to 5pm on Tuesday.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: 76% think having nanny or cleaner in the home is ‘unacceptable’ – poll