Consider child care before lifting restrictions

As more business resume operations as restrictions are lifted childcare for pre-school and primary aged children should be considered. Although I am a key worker my partner is not and therefore we cannot access any childcare even though we are both still working full time as required by our employers, so I am currently working from home as my partners job cannot be done off site. This is however not ideal for my employer. We cannot even send our youngest to his private nursery which we pay for as they have to follow these rules. Do the government and councils expect employers to allow work from home at a reduced level of productivity in the long term to the detriment of their business?

Why the contribution is important

For many families facing this situation (which will increase as more workers come off furlough and back into jobs) there will be no choice but to take unpaid leave or resign if childcare is not made available to all parents working, not just key workers. This is particularly a problem for those parents who would normally make use of holiday clubs over the school summer break as if these are not running there may be no childcare available at all.

by LWats0n on May 07, 2020 at 09:54PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.8
Based on: 21 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Tracey88 May 07, 2020 at 22:00

    This is a priority for me also. If private nurseries are closed I have no childcare

  • Posted by Lbryjacq May 07, 2020 at 22:25

    I agree with this, most parents particularly of pre school children use a mixture of childcare such as nursery and grandparents to help support them whilst they work-particularly given that some local authorities haven’t been able to offer the 1140 hours. I work in the the NHS, my husband doesn’t but his employer is expecting him to work from home. Our son is almost 4 and needs attention and stimulation most of the time. At the moment I am going to work to complete a 4-5 hour shift, returning home at lunchtime to allow my husband to work some 4-5 hours then we are both resuming work after our son has gone to bed. This isn’t sustainable, having a knock on effect on our physical and mental health and putting pressure on our relationship. I dread to think the longer term affects it’s having on our son as we grapple each day with compromising and trying to meet the demands of everything around us. Some limited, controlled and sensible access to grandparents who are under 70, fit and healthy and who are adhering currently to lockdown rules to assist us to allow us to work in vital areas would relieve some of the pressure we are under. We aren’t focussed on heading to shops, travelling places, pubs, restaurants and social activities we just need some help to relieve what are exhausting times.

  • Posted by MarionY May 07, 2020 at 23:41

    Private and other nurseries will have to apply the same principle of staffing and child levels as schools ie a few days a week or in blocks of 1 week with deep cleaning on a continuous basis, this will put up costs to nurseries which will then be passed on to parents. If people are to work full time their children will require full time care and this doesn't seem feasible.

  • Posted by Flugelduck May 08, 2020 at 06:57

    Considering childcare restrictions before opening any businesses is essential. Without childcare those with young children at home simply cannot return to work and this will put people in difficult positions where employers are not understanding. At the same time employers can only be flexible to a point so this may end up in yet more Job losses. Could private childminders and nurseries open earlier than schools and public nurseries to offer a phased approach?

  • Posted by Thelastwilson May 08, 2020 at 07:22

    A big priority for us. I'm currently on furlough but my partner is an nhs employee so can't work from home. I work from home normally but it would be near impossible for me to do my job and look after our toddler.

  • Posted by Karenlou May 08, 2020 at 07:49

    I would usually build up toil to help with my childcare problems over nursery holidays and work on alternate weekends when the children are at their fathers. I am going to need to pay for childcare this summer when we come out of lockdown, not sure how I am going to be able to afford it though.

  • Posted by rmcilwaine43 May 08, 2020 at 07:52

    I agree entirely with this point. Neither myself nor my husband are key workers, however we have both been attempting to work from home with our 2 year old since lockdown started. Whilst we have loved spending more time with her, the strain of juggling childcare and work is now starting to take its toll on both of us and our productivity has decreased significantly. Swedish research has indicated that children under the age of 10 do not seem to transmit Covid- is this being validated/considered by the Scottish Government? If we had some level of comfort about this being the case, we should allow private nurseries, pre-school and early years of primary to re-open. With private nurseries, this would boost those businesses. It would also allow parents to get back to work properly, further supporting our economy.

  • Posted by amdcc May 08, 2020 at 08:20

    Childcare, of course, does not automatically equate with reopening schools. Are there other options?

  • Posted by Mboyd218 May 08, 2020 at 08:32

    Agree, don't want schools and care facilities to open until.safe to do so, but continuing to work full time and home with 2 primary age children is very challenging. With summer holiday looming, this will be hugely difficult and stressful balance for parents.

  • Posted by Annmack May 08, 2020 at 09:32

    Such an important consideration

  • Posted by lmp123 May 09, 2020 at 07:17

    Opening nurseries would alleviate much of the stress for parents working from home, support the economy and also support young children to do what they do best socialise and play with their peers. Young children need to be exposed to each other to support their immune systems develop, develop resilience and to nurture their well-being and learning. Nursery workers generally have well developed immune systems due to working with young children and having high exposure to all the things that wee ones pass around. We know COVID is different but statistically children are showing less risk of severe symptoms and less passing on of the virus. If the parents and adults caring for the children follow stringent procedures then risk should also be low. Nurseries play a crucial role in supporting key workers, this now needs to be extended to other workers for the future of families mental health, children's well being and the economy.

  • Posted by TmCm May 11, 2020 at 15:33

    I agree with this idea, i am currently working from home however my son is only 4 years old so requires alot of attention which is difficult when your trying to hold down a job to pay the bills and juggle family life. There is alot of talk around schools but not enough consideration for nurseries. I work full time so my son usually splits his time between private and council nursery so if the arrangements for going back is that children can only attend at different times or different days then that would provide difficult if different nurseries are adhering to different patterns. Whilst i fully appreciate the reason for the nurseries being closed and would not want my son going back until it was safe to do so, i do believe its having an impact on his learning and social wellbeing as although hes not of school age the only friends he has is in the nursery environment and so is missing interaction with kids his own age and taking part in activities that enhance his learning. I also understand how hard it is for kids his age to social distance however may i suggest using more outdoor space/activities to balance the amount of kids that are in the nursery building at any one time where possible. Also the private nursery has indicated that we will have to continue to pay fees even if not open which also has a financial strain on people who are furloughed or on reduced salary.
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