Another childcare rant - how do people do it?!

@crossedlinesthankyou. I was trying to do just that and summarise the practical and actual possible solutions available. Even if they are a bit far fetched (e.g move house or school, not simple but it is an option)

unfortunately there is no easy or simple solution. And it may be that the OP is just sounding off which is fine. But thought it was worth offering what I can see as actual possible solutions to the problem.

@Needspaceforlego
i didn’t necessarily mean chipping in a few quid. I meant offering time but if all the parents who need this get together it may be less time overall. For example they may attend every other meeting rather than every meeting and it might be more achievable if all the parents help.

@MoreDangerousThanAWomanScorned
that’s probably right. Where I am there were quite a few but often still booked up so hard to get places with!

but just thinking of the more villages not far from me maybe only have 1 so even more in demand.

definitely less people wanting to do it now.

Well, sensible immigration policies lead to a significant number of workers in the care sector in general - medical, social, elderly. Would be odd if the childcare industry didn't also benefit

(of course, Brexit much reduced one route to the in-home care of children of school age i.e. the au pair, though appreciate that a spare room is required)

We don’t have family willing to help out and have an older DC who has medical needs so it was difficult getting paid childcare.

DH retired early and was the sahp for about 10 years. Then I had a breakdown and gave up my job and Dh went back. So we basically tag teamed it. It was never ideal though!

So rich Brits who can afford to have a none working parent or a very part time parent are allowed to procreate? And poor people who have to work full time shouldn’t? And the gaps that will create in the work force in future should be filled by immigration? Is that what you are saying?

Sensible immigration policies can address population needs. Also systemic reforms that don’t rely on an ever-increasing number of human beings on an already overcrowded Earth.

Yes the Committee is responsible for it.
We have a manager who deals with tons of stuff inc all the day to day stuff.

But if nobody wants to take the responsibily then it cannot operate.
Having a committee also means its not for profit.

The alternative is somebody will see a need for afterschool provision and start it up as a profit making business.
However that will need higher fees to cover profit and probably higher rent charities often get reduced rent as they are NFP.

They sit down, they work out their finances and realise that additional care isn't a nice thing to have but a necessity. So what do you suggest then?

My parents worked full time and then my grandparents looked after us 5 days a week.

Before i had a baby my parents promised one day of childcare help a week. This meant that i only needed nursery 2 days a week as i was also off 2 days.

3 months into the one day a week my parents told me they didn't want to do it anymore. They wanted to have the flexibility to go away as it was getting warmer.

I had no choice then but to find additional childcare.

My point is, circumstances can change in a heartbeat even with the best of plans.
.

Or parents decide they can’t work (because reduced hours / flexible working are not universally available and are in fact something of a unicorn in many roles)- what does that do to the economy in the short term when fewer people are economically active? Let alone the longer term of population decline.

OK...and if the upshot is that both parents do need to work and childcare of this kind needs to be used OR the couple decide not to have kids at all, do you prefer the latter? on a population level? cos that's going to make it quite hard to sustain an ageing society.

I think people need to be more realistic before deciding to have kids. Sticking babies in nursery full time, primary school kids in breakfast and afterschool clubs every day - what’s the point? Parents (mum & dad) need to sit down, look at their finances and figure out if they can afford reduced hours/flexible working etc and plan how they can raise their own children, not constantly expecting other people to do it for them.

Honestly I have never worked full time in my entire life I do every pick up and drop up and my husband works full time yes very old fashioned yes I would be screwed if my marriage broke down and had our first child at 16 so not even any qualifications except GCSEs to go on the cv.

Then you’ll know that it’s not just a time commitment but a legal responsibility, and I personally don’t think it’s unreasonable of the OP not to want to become the legal employer of her children’s ASC providers. It’s a choice she may choose to make in the circumstances, but not because it’s just a case of joining a Teams call or two.

I was a school governor as well having DT’s at a different school and working full time so am fully aware of the commitment surrounding volunteering.

I work part time and DH works flexibly, we both work predominantly from home. Our school does have a decent after school club though which we use sometimes. DD is high energy and some of her friends go so sometimes she goes to after school club just to keep her busy!

If that’s the case why are you presenting it as just one Teams meeting a month? If the OP joins the committee and the preschool manager resigns, she will be jointly responsible for employing another. If the preschool/ ASC stops becoming financially viable, she will be responsible for making all the staff redundant. She will be jointly accountable for making sure they meet their responsibilities to the charity commission. She will be accountable when OFSTED comes in. It is not just a time commitment, and it’s not fair to imply to the OP that she’s being unreasonable not to want to accept that level of responsibility because ‘it’s just one Teams meeting a month’.

I was a school governor as well having DT’s at a different school and working full time so am fully aware of the commitment surrounding volunteering.

It’s not ‘just one meeting a month’ though. Joining the committee means becoming trustees for the preschool which runs as a charity/not for profit. Effectively, they will be the employers of the staff running the preschool and ASC. That’s not a small ask. It is necessary, and somebody has to do it, but I’m getting a bit sick of seeing people who clearly have no idea what is involved tell the OP that she’s being ridiculous not to want to just join a few meetings.

Yes, I'm in the SW and ASC until 5.45 is £7.50. breakfast club is £2. Nurseries are about £7 an hour.

Honestly, I don’t think your point does stand, because your point was about small village schools not always being viable.

But happy to agree to differ.

It's probably a bit of both.
If OP joins the committee and finds it is viable, they could propose a plan to pay for management or bring in an outside provider.
Either way, my point stands.

One meeting each month via Teams - you and your DH could take it in turns so easily time manageable?

That's it exactly.
All the parents who use it, want it to run. But somebody needs to take responsiblity for it, anybody could but nobody wants to, and everybody thinks somebody else will.

Reminds me of an old story.
4 people Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
Everybody thought Somebody would do the job. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it.Somebody got angry because it was Everybodys job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it,
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

Join the committee, or your husband does and influence a change to the frequency of the meetings / effectiveness. Do most by Teams for example with F2F once a quarter. Set expectations across all parents not just those on a nebulous committee that everyone needs to muck in so you can all work.

It's your kids school, you can potentially drive really positive change rather than complain about it. What are the actual duties of the committee versus the school governors?