Private Childcare for young children

Please make plans to reopen private childcare. Nurseries, childminders etc.

This will allow parents of young kids to have the same opportunities to return to work as parents of older kids.

It will also allow preschool kids to get much needed enrichment

Why the contribution is important

All the discussion to date appears to have centered around schools. The reason for this firstly is to ensure kids can continue their education and secondly to help parents to go back to work.

None of the discussion has thus far provided any information or apparent consideration for private nurseries and childminders who provide care for children too young for school.

Young kids ore school age require significant amounts of care. Care which doesn't always gel with a "working from home" model.

This sector has been completely left out of the 'childcare' discussion. It's heartbreaking to think the sector and the thousands of parents who rely on it to enable them to work doesn't have any clarity on when they may be able to return and nobody seems to be talking about it in Government.

Parents of pre-school kids also have jobs to do. Our kids also need education and social engagement with other kids.
Parents of pre-school kids should be as able as other parents to go out and earn a living to put food on the table.

By not opening private nurseries you are effectively preventing parents, mainly women from being able to return work.

As a full time working mum I am struggling massively to care for my 2 year old while simultaneously working from home. My mental health is crumbling under the stress of trying to manage both and failing.

Not being able to see any light at the end of the tunnel, not having any idea if when I will be able to put my son back to childcare and feeling like the SNP doesn't care about parents of young kids is so demoralising.

It is unfair to exclude nurseries from any planning or consideration when it comes to parents. Small kids generally don't get a cad case of the virus and are thought to contribute less to the transmission.

by Lstewart on May 06, 2020 at 08:52PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 3.2
Based on: 10 votes

Comments

  • Posted by BUTEMACS May 07, 2020 at 02:03

    I do agree that the childcare for children younger than school age needs to be looked at especially for single parents but nurseries aren't babysitters either if you are being allowed to work from home it's your employer who needs to cut you some slack on your workload to ease the pressure, I'm sure your GP would give you a sick note if things are that bad with your mental health as your child obviously should be your priority. I'm sure there are many NHS ICU workers who would happily swap roles with you, can't imagine how their stress levels are or if they are seeing light at the end of the tunnel when they are comforting a dying patient.

  • Posted by Fairygodmother May 07, 2020 at 07:39

    I agree. It’s hugely hard to work effectively with Small children around.

  • Posted by JLaw May 07, 2020 at 10:52

    I would certainly hope that representatives of childcare are involved in discussions with Scottish Government.
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