Sir Keir Starmer calling for nursery closure!

[Boogie5678]

Sorry I’m not sure how to link this but it’s on BBC news.

There are a lot of sectors that could be closed before nurseries. Meat processing plants - really bad for spread. Manufacturing - look at the spread in Leicester from factories making budget clothes. Construction.

There isn’t much public clamour to do this in the same way there is for schools and nurseries, though. Weird, that.

Nurseries can not afford to be open just with critical workers kids in so most will shut and since most nursing staff are women good luck to the nhs.

This. I'm surprised not many people have joined the dots. If we want nurseries to stay open for key workers/vulnerable children, we need them to stay open for all children. Otherwise, they're financially unviable.

Yep let’s close nurseries under the premise that they are keeping infection rates high, not down to all the sundry claiming to be a key workers and keeping their older children in schools.

@ineedaholidaynow

Awful as that hot tub incident is, surely if you have a hot tub and small children you would need to ensure that it is safely out of their reach, whether you work from home or not.

That incident could have happened if the mum had been on the phone to a friend or her own mum. It didn’t have to be a 2 hour conference call.

You are correct, of course.

BUT this is only one potential incident that could happen. Unintentional injuries are already high up on the list of leading causes of death amongst small children. And that’s without the current epidemic having an impact on level of parenting.

It could have been a toddler that wasn’t supervised correctly whilst eating and choked. Or fell down the stairs or any other number of potentially lethal accidents that could happen in the home if a small child is left unsupervised.

It just isn’t the same as having an 8 year old at home, for example.

Surely childminders can stay open? Ours is already in a 'bubble' of 3 families - that's only one more than allowed by the regulations. If we have to have our 2 yo home, it will hugely impact our ability to work and last time affected by husband's chronic illness hugely with all the early / late work and stress.

@Lifeinaonesie

If nurseries shut then I, nor my colleagues with younger children will work, which means about 800 students will fall behind on their degrees this year. I guess they'll have to retake it all next year.

That May be ok if you can afford not to work or even worse not have a job at the end of it I know my daughter working from home has to do her job if she wants to earn a salary and keep the job They won’t let her stay off at her convenience

@GoldenOmber

There are a lot of sectors that could be closed before nurseries. Meat processing plants - really bad for spread. Manufacturing - look at the spread in Leicester from factories making budget clothes. Construction.

There isn’t much public clamour to do this in the same way there is for schools and nurseries, though. Weird, that.

Excellent point

I would support shutting nurseries if there was good evidence they were contributing to spread of coronavirus. There's a great article in the National Geographical about the first wave regarding children and covid. One of the points is that covid rates in schools reflects the rate in the community.

Having worked throughout the first lockdown and commuted an hour each way to work I can say they are completely different. The first one, I remember thinking this is what the world would look like if everyone but me had died. This one is similar to the level of traffic seen in school holidays. Schools have been shut for 3 weeks now and rates are continuing to rise. I believe we should be shifting our attention to what role adults are having in transmission. There is little point in making more and more rules if the current ones are not being adhered to.

I would hasten to remind people how many payroll processors are women with children. Yes, some payroll can be done from home, but slowed processes will result in late wages and salaries. How many people live paycheck to paycheck?

This will be replicated across the banking and payments industry where many clerks are women, all large batches are moved through an approvals chain, and funds release from investments goes through a live person. If there are less people working, or less hours worked, or processes are slowed due to wfh, people will be waiting for money they need for food and bills. This was already happening at lockdown #1, which is why people were brought back to the office to ensure continuous functionality at expected levels.

Work from home is possible in many roles, but output is severely reduced unless there is a full office level work station set up. In reality, it's mostly a person sitting on the sofa with a laptop and mobile phone.

It won't make a spot of difference because of the increase in 'critical worker' children that parents are insisting they can't keep at home.

My DS is in preschool. I’m a key worker but DH isn’t. If it closes I will have to take unpaid leave to care for him - he’s a manic 3yo and on a good day I can get a bit of housework done around him. DHs salary pays the mortgage and bills though, my part time wages don’t come close, so from a family pov we have to prioritise his work. He’s already using flexibilities to do more drop offs and collection to avoid using grandparent care.

Covid and lockdowns have destroyed many part time workers jobs, disproportionately women. Maybe those calling on nurseries to close aren’t going to be affected by it.

Perhaps the government should start enforcing closure of businesses like coffee shops or insistence that people should work from home rather than make it up to the employer so there are less people about. Closing nurseries is going to be a nightmare as babies and toddlers need constant supervision. Nobody can work with a toddler at home and unless the government insist businesses help employees there are going to be a huge number of mainly women screwed.

@TheKeatingFive
I believe that the new rules of furloughing allows it to be far more flexible. I think some members of staff (perhaps those who are willing) could therefore go into work to provide care for genuine key worker children, whilst the others are furloughed. When workplaces open after the pandemic, the furloughed nursery workers return to provide childcare. No redundancies.

@wonderup @Hardbackwriter
It seems that a lot of you on here are happy to let the nursery workers take the hit to make your lives easier, even when it puts them in danger and many of them are scared. To me that is wrong. I am not a nursery worker so I am not trying to make my own life better.

All of our thoughts are immaterial anyway as the government will decide whether to keep nurseries open based purely on community transmission and whether the NHS can cope with more patients. They are not bothered that someone’s child suffered mild speech delay and they are not bothered about Jane, aged 52, working in the nursery.

It was inevitable. As soon as schools closed it was just a matter of time before nurseries were told to close too.

@bunanarama totally agree with you. I feel abandoned because I don’t fall into some arbitrary list. Why the hell should my job be sacrificed because of this? We are luckily muddling through with grandparent care (we have a reception child who needs to be homeschooled) but I feel like working parents in non ‘keyworker’ jobs have been totally abandoned.

@WeAreShiningStars

It won't make a spot of difference because of the increase in 'critical worker' children that parents are insisting they can't keep at home.

Well they probably can’t keep them at home if their employers are saying “you are entitled to a keyworker place so we expect you working your usual hours at your usual productivity in your usual workplace”, no.

@jollyunicorn83

Our nursery is open to kw and vulnerable children only, I'm surprised there are lots that are open

Why? They're allowed to be and shockingly as a private business, they need to be. The evidence of transmission in nursery settings is, apparently, supportive of them staying open.

Nurseries would be better off furloughing CEV and 50 plus until vaccine than collapsing people’s / women’s livelihoods with closure.

Agree on furlough. I can’t magically reduce the size of our mortgage to fit with the level of furlough paid.

@FreeChuro

I'm a nursery teacher and it was a massive kick in the teeth to hear Boris Johnson say the school teachers are the ones at risk so all education would be shut...except nurseries. We weren't even just forgotten, we were actively told that we dont matter. I dont understand why we arent just open to key children again. I'm terrified of bringing it home, I have my elderly grandmother living with me, my daughter who is asthmatic and I have an autoimmune illness. I'm so scared and so upset by the way we have been treated.

Why are you at work? It sounds like you should be shielding? Can you ask for furlough?

Some school nurseries did only open to vulnerable and KW like the rest of the school but have now been told they have to be fully open

Close the nurseries and see/
Use of grandparents as care surge
Play dates increase
Use of playgrounds surge
Stupid idea!!!!!

It seems that a lot of you on here are happy to let the nursery workers take the hit to make your lives easier

It is not about making parents lives ‘easier’, like childcare is just some luxury service and we’re all spoilt.

I cannot do my job to a reasonable standard without neglecting my toddler. At the moment my employer is being grudgingly understanding about the effects on my job, but other people’s aren’t and there will come a time when mine can’t afford to be either.

I don’t think nursery staff should have to choose between putting their vulnerable family members at risk and losing their jobs, I agree with you on that. But why is it any better to say that people like me should have to choose between putting our young children at risk and losing our jobs?

But now the government will be under pressure from Starmer to do it .

This is going to be very difficult.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Close the nurseries and see/ Use of grandparents as care surge Play dates increase Use of playgrounds surge Stupid idea!!!!!

This. At least nursery settings are required to have measures in place to reduce spread. Playgrounds don’t and neither do family members providing childcare.