Parents may have missed the Chancellor's statement earlier this week about his plans to get the country back to work, amid the noise of home-schooled children. They would have heard much of interest - the job retention bonus, the return of the future jobs fund, a cut to VAT and even subsidised take aways. Yet, there was no mention of how they themselves would be supported to get back to work without having to take their kids with them.
Many childminders and nurseries were barely breaking even before the Covid-19 crisis, due to underfunding. The National Day Nurseries Association reports that 71% of private and voluntary sector childcare providers are now operating at a loss, since they were allowed to reopen in June, and expect to do so for months to come if they stay open. Anyone who has ever tried to maintain order with a group of two year olds knows how impossible social distancing would be meaning, if they do remain open, they'll have to offer fewer places. The pressure on budgets is hardest in the poorest communities, where many childcare providers are heavily reliant on Government funding and private paying clients to make up the shortfall. With reduced places they can’t make ends meet, making closure inevitable.
Surveys show working from home has come to mean different things – with dads closing the door while mums try to manage housework, childcare and work.
Without an injection of cash to tide these services over, a lack of childcare will stop many returning to work. Research shows parents and, in particular, mothers are most at risk of losing their jobs in this crisis. Two thirds of women who want to return to work in the coming months can’t do so because of a lack of childcare. Mothers are more likely to have quit or lost their job, or to have been furloughed, since the start of the lockdown.
Working parents often juggle to keep a career and a family going at the same time – running home to babysitters, organising their lives around expensive holiday clubs and relying on grandparents. Coronavirus has made that impossible as families have been separated and schools shut. Surveys also show working from home has come to mean different things – with dads closing the door and working in their home office, while mums try to manage housework, childcare and work all together. Compared with fathers, mothers are spending less time on paid work but more time on household responsibilities. The time they spend on paid work is also more likely to be interrupted. For those unable to work from home, the choices are stark as they decide between going to work and looking after their children.
Boris Johnson recently suggested parents should rely on employers being ‘reasonable’ about childcare problems during the pandemic. Cold comfort for those in companies threatening largescale redundancies wanting to show their boss their worth ethic. Affordable childcare for all should be part of our economic infrastructure. That it wasn’t even mentioned by the Chancellor reflects the urgent need to broaden the conversation so the needs of families are heard, and ensure being a parent doesn’t mean getting a p45.
READ MORE: Can Grandparents Provide Childcare From The 4th Of July If They’re Under 70 And Healthy?