Trigger warning!!! - extremely sad child related. Why nurseries can only close if furlough is guaranteed

[JanewaysBun]

Don't think this is a duplicate thread, sorry if it is!

With nurseries possibly being closed we must ensure that furlough is legally guaranteed to one parent for child staying at home.

The below is really really sad (child accident related), this really stuck a chord with me and has made me feel so sad.

Last summer a 18 mo died after his mother was trying to WFH and provide childcare. In no way blaming this poor woman whom I assume was simply trying to earn money to feed her DC as well as looking after them

Basicslly she was on a long conference call and the child escaped the house and tragically died in a hot tub. This has really resonated with me, children are NOT safe if a parent is attempting to WFH whilst looking after them. Imo should nurseries close, everyone should be legally entitled to furlough if they are the main childcaring parent.

Also imo this should be up to age maybe 7 (mine are 2 and 1 so not sure at what age they can sit still for 2 mins so feel free to correct)
www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/12/01/baby-drowned-hot-tub-mother-working-home-inquest-hears/amp/

So in short if nurseries need to close which I accept they might we need to provide something In place to keep them safe at home.

Also aware furlough (80%?) Will cause some people to get into financial difficulty so definitely need to have something extra in place for these people.

I will probably resign if I have to "work" whilst with a 2 and 1 yo (DH works 14+ hour days and basically earns all our money so no point making him take some sort of leave as his wage pays the bills!) And most toddlers i know dont sleep enough to allow the parent to work in that time! But aware most people are not in this fortunate position.

I work from home managing software for clinical trials. Obviously very busy right now and could not give adequate care to my toddler if nurseries closed. But I'm not a key worker, also can't be furloughed.
Nurseries can't close!

@Lockdownbear
If there wasn't a global pandemic it wouldn't be ideal but considering the need to stay at home and keep the economy functioning children watching more TV than usual is hardly the end of the world.

Horrendous, I WFH last year with a 2&4 year old & my 2 year old badly bruised himself while I was on a call. I felt so guilty.

It’s unsafe, myself & DH are critical workers (he works outside the home) & my now 3&5 year old are going to school now. I refuse to work & ‘look after’ them as it’s not possible & unsafe. Shame I’m treated like scum of the earth for it on mumsnet!

Also can’t be furloughed as public sector

OP that is heartbreaking. I returned from maternity leave in May, allied health professional and whole team at the time was WFH/ visits if classed as emergency and then after a risk assessment. My daughter was at home with me and 12 months. It was hell. My partner works full time and earns significantly more than me. Eventually we managed to find a childminder however now as this lockdown begun, that has come to an end, I’m still working from home (as is all our team) and juggling looking after our daughter and working. Im hoping we can find a nursery which will have places. If they close I think I will have to seriously think about resigning. There’s such a shortage of us in my profession already but Furlough isn’t a possibility. I don’t want to put my parents at risk if I formed a childcare bubble due to them having serious health conditions.

I think most posters forget that it's gospel on MN that people shouldn't have children if they can't afford them. Or so I was told - very clearly - recently on a thread where I dared to suggest that sometimes peoples circumstances can change in a millisecond. So what's changed now ?

A much better approach would be to force companies to allow work to be completed 7 days a week and into the evening where ever possible and enforce the maximum working week of 48 hours. Unfortunately everyone has to make sacrifices and in the case of most parents that should include not expecting a traditional weekend and spreading work across 7 days.

No thanks, you're alright. How on earth does that work if you work in customer service or something? Pop the answerphone on?

This story from the summer is incredibly sad.
And I agree that this was a Covid/WFH casualty.
I’m surprised this terrible incident didn’t get picked up more by the media.
This happened as a direct result of Covid, I would suggest.

I think MN should campaign to keep nurseries open.

My 5 year old was fine in the summer with my other daughter watching her age 10. She is 6 now and is fine with TV and crafting etc and roblox. So id say 5

That's horrendous. Hot tubs are lethal and unsafe, those covers don't keep children out, they need properly designed covers and removable steps so that 18 month olds can't climb in.

With respect, the sad story you highlight could happen to any non-working parent who has a hot tub/pond and leaves the garden door unlocked. You'd only have to pop upstairs, or go to the loo for a few minutes and it's enough time to get outside.
I do think something needs to be done to protect the jobs of working parents with children, but not sure what will suit all.

I am very sympathetic as a mother who has her own business but if it is between your job and leaving your 18 month old unattended I am sorry but you cannot weigh up the pros and cons and decide your job is more important.

Threads like this put the onus on nurseries. The government needs to furlough parents to come up with a suitable option especially as now parents who are key workers won’t qualify if they work from home. The government is being negligent.

The problem is that most nurseries cannot afford to be open for key worker children only. It is not like schools where they get their funding regardless. My nursery has told me that they are not sure if they will be able to remain open for key workers only as it is financially unviable. I’m only aware of 2 other children in my son’s room whose parents are key workers- we don’t all use the nursery everyday (I’m a shift worker). I am then in a position of taking unpaid leave (the last thing the NHS needs right now) or finding an alternative nursery, one with spaces is probably hard to come by. I cannot be furloughed as I work for the NHS in a critical role. I also cannot afford to be paying my closed nursery and a new one so I can’t afford to keep paying for a nursery place my son isn’t using to keep them viable, which will be gutting as the staff are lovely and they are doing a fab job.

The government needs to furlough parents

it doesn't work for many companies though. is that so difficult to get your hear round?

I 100% agree that people should not be expected to wfh and rear children. It is simply not possible.
My sincere condolences to the mother of that child.

This is all wishful thinking, the U.K. is in a deep mine shaft of public debt, so where would money come from to pay all these parents 80% of their “usual” wage so they can not work and watch their children? Furlough is meant to keep businesses afloat by paying them enough to keep staff from being made redundant.

It’s purpose is NOT to fund a (temporary) SAHP for months on end.

Furthermore there is an injustice here compared to those on maternity leave and SAHPs by necessity. The only difference between a parent choosing not to work but to care for children at home and a SAHP is due to lack of available childcare. Lack of (affordable, suitable) childcare is a key reason why many end up SAHPs anyway. So this plan to have the taxpayer give a parent choosing not to work 80% of their usual wage is discriminatory against less privileged parents (mostly working class women) who had left the job market long ago due to lack of a childcare option. Now this is affecting the middle classes...whine whine you want a free hand out that is over and above what is already available- if your household income falls below the threshold you get universal credit and so on.

I’m sick and tired of people thinking that the government owes them to be able to continue their middle class privileged lifestyle no matter what. Yes no one’s fault Covid happened, it’s a crisis. And yes you might lose a job, a home, a relative and have to start over. But the tax payer doesn’t owe you more than what it’s poorest families have had to live on for years and years.

That poor child, of course tragedies like this are going to happen when parents are expected to divide their attention in two. I'm honestly baffled that it has to be stated that you cannot work from home in any proper capacity whilst also looking after children under about 7.

No wonder childcare and teaching staff get such crap pay in this country, the government seems to think its not actually a job...

@robinwisperer when they want to find a solution and money to problems they can. For working parents at home expected to work whilst home schooling it isn’t realistic and on the other hand nurseries shouldn’t be solely responsible for childcare in a pandemic.

I think the only answer you want to hear is: nurseries should stay open no matter what the personal costs and risks to their staff or businesses because it’s what you want to hear.

Fucks sake I am going to stop reading these threads. There is so little empathy towards working parents who are expected to WFH and look after babies, toddlers and primary school age kids. So many people have already had furlough, support, essential workers can access childcare but everyone else should just get on with it eh?

Company I work for have set service levels it has to meet to maintain it's licence . Theres noway we could with loads off on furlough lockdown causes a massive surge in parts of our business .

I’ve got a sensible 7year old and it’s stressful enough trying to juggle WFH and childcare, I can’t imagine how hard it is with a toddler 😢
The poor family

I read this story a while back and it was one of the first things that came into my head when I thought they were going to shut the nurseries again. I had to wfh with a 2 year old and couldn't cope so went on unpaid leave, part of the reason being I thought one of these days she's going to have an accident whilst I'm on a bloody zoom call. Absolutely tragic for this family.

If you have two children or more employ a nanny. I think as cost effective as a nursery.
I’m a nanny and enjoy home schooling. Plus I do children’s laundry including bedding and cook meals from scratch. We do a daily walk and play lots of games, read books etc.
Lots of nannies looking for work .