WE'RE into August, the final stretch of summer 2023, which will be remembered as the great wash-out, no matter what the rest of this month serves up. Parents have been tearing their hair out trying to keep children entertained and occupied. For the working parents, the end of the summer scramble – the childcare scramble – is in sight.
This world is one I have only just started to experience. From the minute school finishes, the cheapest summer schools are sought out, the family favours are called in. For many, the dates of summer holidays depend on when the childminder takes holidays. No criticism, it's just the way it is.
Apart from teachers, no other working parent has enough annual leave to use to cover the school holidays. Many end up splitting childcare, so the adults become ships in the night and the family unit don't get much time off together during summer.
Childcare costs, per month, per child, are the same as a mortgage repayment. The expense has to be a consideration for anyone deciding whether or not they can afford children. In many cases, the mother decides to change her working pattern, returning to work part-time, job share or take a career break for a couple of years until the children get to school.
Where this decision is made out of necessity, not by choice, the woman loses out on pension payments, career progression – she might even lose the confidence to return to work.
The dynamic of working this out within the couple could have a long term impact on the relationship, with one parent feeling less than the other.
When did summer schemes get so expensive? I was quite naïve when I went to the Gaeltacht years ago, thinking that everyone was there for the love of Irish. Of course, it was a great summer scheme – albeit an expensive one if you have to pay the full attendance fee.
Read more:
Lynette Fay: The Gaeltacht experience deserves the Derry Girls treatment
PERSONAL FINANCE: Smart ways to save money on everyday back-to-school costs
Government has more work to do to ensure families secure quality childcare – MPs
If you live somewhere where community lead summer schemes exist, you have hit the jackpot in this world – for a couple of weeks of summer anyway.
Parents have to be resourceful – they have no other choice. In some cases, groups of parents get together and form a syndicate as a resolution to the childcare problem.
What responsibility lies with employers? Do they have a role to support their staff? Good old presenteeism has raised its ugly head again and working from home is a distant memory for some.
Charity Employers for Childcare, which helps working parents to get into and stay in work, encourage employers to open up a conversation with their staff and ask how they can help, maintaining that will get the most out of staff in a climate where recruitment and retention are challenging.
When was the last time you had such a conversation with your employer about your childcare needs?
Employers for Childcare maintain that support for quality childcare must be a government issue, as it is a key part of our economic and societal infrastructure and a crucial aspect of what makes anywhere a good place to live.
Forty per cent of the workforce are parents with children. Currently, we don't have a childcare strategy. The UK government have announced new supports – although not implemented yet – and the same is happening in the Republic. The situation in those jurisdictions is far from perfect, but at least childcare is on the agenda.
Childcare is important to all of us – even if you're not a parent. When people can't go to work because they are struggling with childcare, everyone loses out on the service they provide – the bus driver, the hairdresser, doctor, nurse, teacher.
What does proper support look like? It needs to be ambitious. It will cost millions so that providers can provide quality care, staff can be paid properly and their work valued. The provision must be affordable for every single family who needs it.
If manifestos are to be believed, all political parties want to provide this childcare support to working parents. A little less conversation, a little more meaningful action please.
