I'm looking for advice on childcare options for shift working.
A bit of background; I have one primary aged child. I work shifts which rotate through mornings, afternoons, nights and days off over a ten day period. I'm currently furloughed but will likely be returning to work in a few weeks.
Prior to coronavirus my son attended school and my husband and I shared childcare between us. We used breakfast and after school club to cover any childcare required on weekdays outside of school, and holiday club as required on weekdays during the holidays. My husband would care for my son for the extremes of my shifts and overnight as necessary. It sort of worked but latterly he would let us down at the last minute leaving me unable to go to work.
We are now separating. For various reasons he cannot be relied upon to share childcare either practically or financially going forward. Nor can he be relied upon to contribute to household bills. So to all intents and purposes I'm on my own.
My job is specialised and cannot be done from home. I don't think that now is a good time to request flexible working with my employer due to the lingering unspoken threat of redundancy. Getting another job in my field locally is impossible, and no one elsewhere is recruiting due to the impact of Coronavirus.
So I find myself in the position of trying to find childcare to cover full time shifts, while school is closed and not likely to return to 'normal' for some time, no flexible working options, no option to change jobs and no family support nearby. My salary is good but not enough to cover all the household outgoings and a full time nanny.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what options to consider? I cannot afford to lose my job (who can?) but I don't know how to resolve these issues