Leaving an 8 yr old home alone all day

[Meiya]

Hi there,
is it ok to leave an 8 yr old home alone all day while a single parent goes out to work from 9 till 5.?
the child has a kitten for company ( she loves cats) but is an only child and spends most of her time alone when not in school because of her fathers work.
she has a phone she can contact him on if need be .

@MossGrowsFat

Wrap around care, council holiday clubs, used my annual leave to cover half terms, swap&share with another single working mum so our holiday days went twice as far.

Planned months in advance to ensure I had cover.

My ex would only do the week between Xmas & NY, and one week in the summer. God forbid anything should get in the way of his career, so 11 weeks were on me.

I was this child, back in the 80’s, and I was absolutely fine, quite happy to potter around all day (between 9-5.30pm) and I understood not to open the door to anyone, and my DM’s work number in case I needed it.

My DM had a rather “relaxed” approach to parenting though so I’m unsure if it was normal back then or not.

@Emotionalsupportviper

There used to be a lot of latch-key kids - it was considered a national disgrace and one of the reasons that govt-funded childcare was introduced,

you’ll have to forgive me (my kids are now 11) but I’ve missed out on this mystery govt-funded childcare (free/not free nursery hours yes, after that?)…

even sending the child to the library (with a packed lunch)
Our library would not allow children unsupervised.

@pigcon1 i think if you go past the field with the unicorn in it you will find it

Agreed, leaving a child alone is definitely out of the question.

I'd say no.

Ask friends to have her or family.
Take her to work - if possible.
Stay with her if the alternative is leaving her alone for so long.

What if the parent did leave the 8year old home alone, and parent had an accident, or was seriously delayed.... ?

This is not just about the abilities of the child.

Thanks - I’ll look out for it @Spicycurry 😂

Eh? My ds is 14 and ds got 15 hrs free nursery between 3 & 4 even though I was on a decent salary and not benefits. Not sure how you missed it.

Gosh no.

No way!

And for children aged 5 up?

This

Re paid for childcare beyond the nursery years:

I receive a small amount of tax credits to top up my income. I was able to declare my DD's holiday club in the summer as part of my tax credits claim and they gave me a significant proportion of the cost back in my following week's tax credits payment after the holiday club.

However, I was fortunate that I had the £250 to book a week's full-time holiday club as it needed booking well in advance to secure a place. If you haven't got the money to pay in the first place you can't make use of the government covering some of the cost.

It also applies only to Ofsted registered childcare settings. Because I know this, understand the eligibility rules, have the wherewithal to search for childcare that meets the eligibility, I was able to take advantage of this. I fear that some people who need it might not be aware this exists or how to navigate the system to ensure they book holiday clubs that meet the terms.

You also have to be able to get the child to the club so if you don't have a car and you need to get to work for 9am you need to find a holiday club that opens before 9 that is on your walk (or public transport route) to work. All in all this is not very straightforward..

I got the free 15 hours per week after the age of three (just paid the supplement that the nursery the kids were at required to cover the costs). The working week is 37.5 hours plus travel for most.

@MintJulia the thirty hours is fine if you have a child of that age - I think even the most struggling parent would acknowledge a child of that age just can’t be left.

School aged children are different and even parents who are together struggle with holidays.

It’s tough at the moment and I think recognising this and trying to build a society that supports working parents is perhaps most conducive.

Don't be ridiculous. If you know someone who is doing this then please contact social services urgently. Just think of all the things that could potentially happen - fall with injury, scalding, fire, climbing leading to furniture falling, injury from knife or scissors - those are just a few of hundreds of things that could happen. How is the child getting home from school if the parent is at work?

I'm sure the parent wants the best for their child, but this is so, so dangerous and is putting the child at huge risk.

Absolutely not, no way! She’s 8, still so young. Sort childcare or a family member to help out as this isn’t right. 9-5 too, that’s such a long time. Im sorry but others might agree, but I don’t. I have only just started leaving my son at age 13
and for me that’s still young, but 8 😯 no she shouldn’t be left.

No!!!!!! Not for even 10 mins!!!!

Of course that's not OK

Aren’t the free nursery hours only for 38 weeks a year still?

I suspect it happens a lot more than people realise. Not all areas have a decent amount of clubs, childminders etc.

Round here we have a holiday club that will only accept 30 - this covers three primary schools with well over 300 children. And an adventure park that closes for lunch 😂 The few childminders don’t do holiday cover.

Not all neighbours are a safe option. Libraries aren’t always open all day, and many require supervision. Due to rising rental costs and work opportunities families are often split across the country/globe. Plus like neighbours, their school mates etc they cannot be relied on as a safe option in many cases.

There is tax free childcare which gets you 25 percent off?

Oh and no, OP. It's not ok. But I agree if you're going to do it that you should have the kids on facetime through the day or on some kind of webcam.

No, not if they are entirely alone and not being checked on. Is it possible dad works from home? My sister has left her 8 yr old at home with her husband working in the room next door and taking breaks to check in, get snacks etc as a one off. Her 8 yr old said they stayed at home with his parents were working. I gently asked my sister about it (actually offering to have him rather than being acusing) and discovered the details were quite a bit different. 8 yr old was confused that I was confused as to them they explained it clearly! So I wouldn’t immediately assume I knew the exact circumstances.

Are you going to come back and explain who is doing this op? No, this most definitely isn’t ok. I’d only now be ok doing that and my dd is 14. She does have a medical condition so I understand I am a little more prudent. I started leaving her for a short while at 10 in year 5 and took it from there.