To be really worried about childcare facilities closing?

[Bigfatspiders]

I just can’t see any way that this won’t happen at some stage over the next few weeks.
I have a DD who is in full time nursery and a DS who is in primary school. Our monthly outgoings on childcare are about £1500. We have been told that if they close, we still have to pay. I totally get why that is but there’s absolutely no way I can afford to take unpaid leave from work to look after them and still pay this.
Surely I’m not the only one in the same boat?

Why on earth should you still pay if they're closed? I understand still having to pay if they're open but you don't send your child, but why on earth should you pay for a service they aren't providing?

I’m worried about it too - we’ve also been told we have to pay still even if they close. Luckily my work is quite flexible and prepared to let me work from home but I won’t get an awful lot done with my 4 year old DS around. A friend and I who have similar age DC have discussed tag teaming - she’d have them both for the morning while I work, then swap for the afternoon, then we’ll both be catching up in the evening. Can you do anything like that instead of taking unpaid leave?

You generally have to pay. Check your contract. There have been other threads about this, and that is the answer. Maybe a delayed payment, maybe 50:50. Otherwise the nursery will go under and be permanently closed.

I'm a SAHM. This morning my niece asked me to have her 2 dd's if her nursery is closed.
On the way home from the shops a neighbour asked if I could help her out if her nursery closes🤣🤣.

Do you have friends in the same situation maybe you could arrange childcare between you.

But why are companies like nurseries not insured?

They are insured. The insurers are looking like they won’t pay out.

If the over 70s end up in isolation, that's going to cause an awful lot of childcare problems too.

They are insured, it's just that most contracts have a force majeure clause in them.

Maddening, insurance companies don't normally cover closure due to pandemics, they cant afford to bail out an entire economy if everything is shut

They are insured but insurance won't cover coronavirus. I'm a childminder and it will ruin me if I have to close with no fees.

Insurers that cover closure due to notifiable diseases would pay out. Most insurers have a tighter wording that covers specific illnesses as they cant underwrite for future pandemics that they have no knowledge if yet. Coronavirus is not on the list of specific illnesses covered.

@maddening they are insured but insurance companies are likely to not pay out because Corona/covid 19 is not on their list of notifiable diseases, due to being so new. As a result insurance companies are saying it's not covered as a reason for closure.

I work in childcare & it's an impossible situation - staff still need to be paid if closed but a lot of privately owned, small nurseries can only do so if parents continue to pay, which then puts huge financial strain on parents. Childcare insurers are not paying out. Not sure what the answer is

I'm not sure one individual should be looking after kids from multiple homes. After all, the reason schools and childcare facilities would close is to stop the spread of the virus.

If schools and childcare shuts, one of the parents (or parent) needs to not be at work.

I live in a different country. Childcare is already closed and the total closure will be 18 days. We will not be getting a refund of the nursery fees and I cannot work and will not get paid.
When you reach this stage, you will accept it because you have to. Worrying doesn’t help. You can only be intelligent about which bills you don’t pay.
A lot of people in Italy have died because they babysat their grandchildren. People need to stop looking for informal arrangements and accept that in an extreme situation there is no alternative to staying at home.
Another kind of government might help you — in Austria, you would receive 90% of your salary and nursery is free anyway — but the current government probably won’t.

It was in the news in NI yesterday that once closed, schools will likely remain closed for 16 weeks. 16 weeks?! That’s 4 months. 18 days I could cope with without too much bother. 4 months?! Not a hope.

There have been several threads about this. If the govt doesn’t offer any kind of support (and they haven’t indicated anything) then many many families are going to be in an impossible financial situation. I don’t want the staff at my son’s nursery to have to go unpaid or lose their jobs any more than anyone else. I also don’t see it as “not my problem, if they don’t provide a service I don’t pay them”. It is everyone’s problem and I want everyone to be financially supported through this unprecedented potential situation. But unfortunately this govt is not reliable on that issue

The thing is, it’s not childcare settings being dicks by warning parents that this is what is likely to happen. With insurers saying they won’t pay out and no indication of any extra govt support they are saying what they will need given current information. They want to be able to keep paying their own staff and stay viable as much as possible. In the same way that a (eg) self-employed parent who says “if you close and I have to look after my children then I won’t be able to pay you as I wont be able to work and will have no income” is not being a dick either - just stating the facts as they are given current information. The only thing we can do is lobby for proper financial support for families/childcare settings/small businesses/SE people etc in the event of a forced shutdown

@ChipsyChopsy and what about us single parents?

“ I'm not sure one individual should be looking after kids from multiple homes. After all, the reason schools and childcare facilities would close is to stop the spread of the virus. ”

But this is exactly the sort of choice people will have to make if no other support is in place. People will not choose to stay at home with no income and still paying out for childcare if that ruins them financially and means that they and their children end up hungry and homeless, even if it means they are increasing the risks associated with the pandemic. It is forcing people to choose between definite suffering for their children vs potential suffering. It would be immoral for the govt to force people to make this choice, but until I hear actual plans for support for people who would be in that position I can’t be sure they wouldn’t allow that to happen

I absolutely agree with you IvinghoeBeacon. It’s an impossible situation.

As a previous poster said, if we are at the stage we are closing schools, we are accepting that non essential workers aren't going to work. And that controlling the spread of this virus is the number 1 priority for every person. I would hope there would be government support, both financially and in terms of childcare for those that work in essential services.

There is absolutely no point in closing schools and then asking someone three doors down to take your children or giving them to grandparents. Which is why I presume they've decided not to close them.

“ I would hope there would be government support, both financially and in terms of childcare for those that work in essential services”

I agree (though I don’t trust this govt until I see it) and until there are concrete clear plans and support in place people are going to think of contingencies with the information that is currently available. It’s not people being irresponsible or anything - it’s figuring out how they would keep a roof over their head.

I'm from Ireland originally and have heard of more than one crèche continuing to collect fees during the closure, but not paying their staff. Please check how your fees are being used and stick up for the staff if they need it.