Private Childcare for young children

There are a lot of reports circulating, including documents which have been formally published by the Scottish government regarding the reopening of schools. However, It isn't only parents of school age children who need to get back to work once it's safe to do so. There are thousands of parents of pre-school age kids who rely on private childcare provision to be able to work. Parents of 1-4 year olds who also need to earn a living to keep food on the table. Without childcare in place, many will struggle to get back to any kind of work. Statistically women will be affected to a greater extent than Men. Nursery and childminders are not bound by a school timetable and don't cater for hundreds of kids like school does. My son's nursery for example has a total capacity of 40 kids. The issue of social distancing is obviously a challenge but it's calculated risk and can be mitigated by good hygiene practices which were being followed weeks before lockdown.its documented that children don't generally get a bad case of the virus and that their ability to spread it is lessened as a result It would be seriously unfair to deprive parents of younger kids of the chance to return to work. It would also not be fair to disallow younger kids the opportunity for social interaction which happens in nursery settings. I would appreciate some Information from the Scottish Government about early years childcare. These businesses need to know when they can open and parents need to know when their child can go back. Please please please don't forget about parents with no childcare help and more importantly don't forget about very young kids who are also suffering not seeing their friends.

Why the contribution is important

These businesses need to know when they can reopen and parents need to be able to plan for the future.

by Lstewart on May 08, 2020 at 11:09PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 3.6
Based on: 6 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Lisa1202 May 09, 2020 at 10:35

    Totally agree, key worker trying to work from home is impossible with a just turned 2 year old, it’s not safe for me to be taking work calls etc, my council doesn’t allow key workers working from home to access childcare, my sons nursery had to close even though they had 23 key worker children as council wanted all adults to be key workers and not be working from home

  • Posted by reellis23 May 11, 2020 at 16:16

    Completely agree

  • Posted by Nichola1234 May 11, 2020 at 21:57

    It feels like the government forgets that the vast majority of parents with under 4s need to work. We couldn’t get a council childcare place (I’m a category 1 key worker) because our nursery announced its closure after the council had filled all its slots. My boss is letting me WFH as much as possible but two parents trying to WFH with a baby and toddler means a lot of very late nights and early mornings which is extremely tiring. Please include specific guidance for private nurseries as they are normally open over the summer break so their reopening shouldn’t be delayed just because the government forgot about them
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