Why do schools need to go back to get the workforce back?

[Pitaramus]

I keep hearing talk of the “need” to send kids back to school so that their parents can get back to work. I’ve never really seen school as sufficient childcare to enable someone to actually go to work. My youngest child’s nursery is 8-6 and open about 51 weeks a year. That is childcare. School is 9-3 and is shut for 3 months of the year anyway.

Surely one parent in each family unit (assuming the family has two parents) could go back to work without schools going back. A certain percentage of families of primary aged kids have one stay at home parent anyway because of the cost of the wrap around care they’d otherwise need. And all parents whose children are 13 plus could also go back to work.

I just don’t see the schools being shut as being a massive barrier to a lot of the work force returning, particularly given that they are only open 9-3 anyway and they are due off for may half term and then the summer hols which means you’d be getting 9-3 “childcare” for 12 weeks between now and September.

Of course there will be some who can’t work without school and the after school and breakfast clubs that some schools offer but these people must be in the minority if you’re looking at the workforce as a whole. I know in my workplace I’m one of three people out of about 40 with primary aged kids where both parents work. Luckily I’m managing to work from home as I have quite a flexible job.

If the cost of the furlough is the problem (which I’m sure it is) why not furlough one parent in each family with young kids where both parents work and then everyone else can go back as and when it’s safe to do so.

If I go to work and leave my kids in childcare/with grandparents why does it affect anyone other than me and them?

Until there's a vaccine, I hope you won't be leaving your kids with grandparents as you'd be putting them at risk of Covid.

teachers back at work, so it's a major part of the workforce the government can get back

Teachers being back at work doesn’t ‘boost the economy’ in the same way as Starbucks being open does. We don’t generate money.

@Frouby

If you want to be part of the Government's 'herd immunity' theory then be my guest, but I for one don't consider people to be cattle.

There are too many unknowns about this virus for cavalier solutions.

The medical experts can't even be certain that those who have contracted Covid-19 won't have health issues from it later in life.

@noblegiraffe

Teachers being back at work doesn’t ‘boost the economy’ in the same way as Starbucks being open does. We don’t generate money.

Oooh! Are Starbucks paying their taxes now?

@Flaxmeadow The answer is £££

I stayed home but my earning potential has been wrecked causing me major problems now when h left me for a younger model.

Good point, Dawn. My mistake though, it’s Pret A Manger that’s reopening.

And Burger King and KFC.

Dh works in health and safety and is currently looking at corona policies. To reopen their factory, each worker will need a face shield and gloves which are changed regularly. Each workspace will be disinfected . There's lots more, but it's boring.

He laughs when I talk about schools opening. Says I'll need 72 hours before i can touch books to mark them. Then.72 hours before I return them.

His place are worried about being sued if someone can reasonably prove that they socially distanced but still caught it in work.

@noblegiraffe

And Burger King and KFC.

Ah! Virus or food poisoning. Take your pick.

"Teachers being back at work doesn’t ‘boost the economy’ in the same way as Starbucks being open does. We don’t generate money."

ANYOne back at work boosts the economy. Because you don't just need people who are selling products, you need people to buy them. The moment people are back on full income, with less concerns regarding the stability of that income, the more they will start consuming again.

Obviously, having said that, teachers are not single handedly going to get things back up and running. The point though is that it's one sector of the economy where you can get a whole lot of people back into work who then become economically beneficial (ie in their spending etc) and also facilitate a whole lot of other people getting back into work because their childcare options are increased.

But teachers are on full pay anyway because we are working from home. We’re not currently out of work or not earning or taking money from the public purse that we wouldn’t ordinarily be.

@Kazzyhoward

sigh I just mean in general.

Not to worry Im wfh right now and looking after my kids.

But you're not SPENDING money. we need people to spend money. Buying coffee and clothes and meals out. Doing home improvements and gardening. Getting their hair cut and nails done. Taking the kids to judo and swimming (and paying for those services).

My point is that every sector we bring back online has an impact on the economy. Obviously, until other sectors open, not all of that money spending can be happening. I'm not saying that teachers are single handedly going to make it all right again, I'm just saying that sending the kids to school has the added benefit of getting teachers back out there.

@SoloMummy do fuck off with your 1950s attitude. I make no apology for the fact I work four full days whilst having a child. He was planned and i never had any intention of giving up work.

He is happy, loves school, loves after school club. We have a great time together and a fab bond

Why wouldn’t I work? Why would I (through choice) bring a child into a world if I could not provide for him? Why would I (through choice) bring a child into the world if I was reliant on someone else?

I saw my parents struggle because of low incomes and I now often how my Mum will manage when my step dad dies. I have no intention of leaving myself financially vulnerable in the future - yes our future will be more secure if my husband and I are together but I will make sure I am fine financially (and my son is fine) if we split up

I'd like schools and nurseries to reopen because my kids miss it, they miss their friends, they are fed up of only being able to interact with DH or myself and both of us have had to take leave to cover the lost hours of school and nursery. We both work because we invested many years into our own education and qualifications and not about to jack that in anytime soon. Neither of us would qualify for furlough so we have no choice but to juggle working, childcare and home schooling and its exhausting us all.

The main problem is that you need TWO parents working to cover bills and have SOME luxuries- one salary alone is not enough in the majority of people’s circumstance.

And by the way, I don’t NEED my son to go back to school as DH has been furloughed and my employers are very understanding. I would like the schools to reopen as soon as it is safe for my son’s benefit. He is an only child and although is having a great time with us will soon start to miss interaction with children

@DawnBreeze have absolutely no desire to be part of a herd immunity experiment unnecessarily, especially having just this weekend lost my fil to covid19.

However I also have no desire to starve to lose my home, starve to death, be made bankrupt, lose the NHS etc. We can not afford as a family or as a country to just not work for 18 months.

There are also people still working for NMW as they are frontline staff. Their lives and the lives of their families are at risk every day while the rest of us sit at home on furlough if we are lucky. The current worldwide plan, bar 2 countries I think, is to flatten the curve until either enough of the population have had it or until a vaccine happens. That means eventually people need to return to work before a vaccine happens.

Now you can chose what you want for your family. As can I. But if you want to chose to isolate yourself and your family until a vaccine comes along that's fine. But I hope you have enough savings to see you right through. Because it would be spectacularly unfair for the already stretched state to support you and yours while the rest of us risk contracting it to keep ourselves and the economy going.

Those citing that these mothers NEED to work, perhaps now more thought will be given before having children. If you cannot afford children with one parent at home, then you shouldn't be having any!

Pmsl. There goes most of Cornwall.

I'm just saying that sending the kids to school has the added benefit of getting teachers back out there

You want me to be out there buying coffee and clothes then you need to open the cafes and clothes shops, not the schools!

You want me to be out there buying coffee and clothes then you need to open the cafes and clothes shops, not the schools!

*Exactly!

Theres articles today saying coffee shops and estate agents opening will help the economy.*

Just to reiterate, I understand that loads of mothers and fathers of primary aged children rely on schools to be able to work. However, lots don’t.

It is also the case that a large part of the workforce don’t even have young children or even school age children.

I couldn't say what percentage of the workforce have caring responsibilities but happy to agree that it might not be the majority. However, it is a single large chunk and it's not clear that any other group of the workforce have a single mechanism by which the government can make it easier for them to go back to work.

You want me to be out there buying coffee and clothes then you need to open the cafes and clothes shops, not the schools!

Absolutely. But from what I can see, and what other countries seem to be doing, is that the phased approach to coming out of lockdown starts with exactly this - kids going back to schools, certain shops etc reopening eg ones of a certain size and that can enforce some element of social distancing but not bars/restaurants etc. So as those open, we need people who are going to use them. Teachers are one group. Parents whose kids have gone back to school are another. People who work in these shops/service providers are, of course, another.

Have civil servants been WFH or furloughed? That's another group I imagine the government will try get back to work asap.

I'm a civil servant and wfh. They don't furlough us as there is always enough work. Particularly at the moment.

Public sector workers aren’t furloughed.

The government will want to get people back properly to work that they are now paying (to stay at home) not ones that they were paying all along.

Why would a mother with very young/pre school children want to go to work anyway?

This makes me so angry. Do you ask fathers of young children why they want to go out to work?
Do you understand that lots of people need two incomes just to live? Do you realise how fucking sexist you sound?

Solomummy do you live in the real world? Do you honestly think working parents only see their kids at weekends? Some households need two incomes but there is so much more to a career than a salary. I work because I choose to, because I love my job, because I've spent years working hard to get where I am and it's part of my identity.

My DS benefits in many ways from us both working. Try being a little more open minded instead of 'mummy shaming' working mothers - and it's always mothers never fathers.