Organisations supposedly supporting flexible working ignore childcare issues - frustrating!

[Bebimama]

I run a social enterprise but due to financial issues, I need to work a bit, full time. I never intended to work full time unless from home, my son is only two. I haven't started yet but feeling a bit demoralised as I've been trying explore my options. I've been trying to get a campaign going to show there is a need for flexible working but also flexible and affordable childcare. I've come up with this Community Working Creche concept...(am I allowed to link to it?) Anyway no one seems to get that childcare for kids under 3 can have a massive impact on you running a business, returning to work even volunteering! I thought it was fairly obvious. On top of all that the 'community' organisation that I will be working for said straight off that they will not consider work from home, flexi work, job share or anything and the top people are women! I really want to do something about this but need to find the best way to gain support.

I left the NHS after 20 years due to this problem. Flexible working must be considered but companies are under no obligation to agree, and as I was told numerous times "the needs of the service come first."

You can't work from home and look after your child. My older son is 6 and just about gets it that when I get a work call he needs to be quiet. My 4 year old doesn't. When they were younger I used a CM and she was flexible with my requirements but I was lucky. I do now work for a flexible organisation and work from home when I need to but this is usually when my DCs are ill and crashed out on the sofa.

Working from home as a means of solving childcare just doesn't work. Sorry.

How will your idea regarding a crèche work?

Hello,

You are right, working from home for childcare purposes doesn't solve the problem as I've grappled with that problem till now and my progress has really slowed forcing me back into employment for a while. However, if they had let me work from home, it would have enabled to keep childcare costs down, make more use of family, work early morning etc, saving roughly £200/m and let me see my son at break times and lunch.

About the crèche idea, it would be a flexible office space - which might just be chairs, tables and wifi to start off, with a space for a crèche in the same location. It would run for 2 hours, then a break and then run for another 4 hours supervised by an organisation like the Pre School Alliance who already provide similar services in community settings and receive government funding. Those eligible to use the facility would include parents in the early stages of business start up and those wishing to maintain skills by volunteering for a charity or social enterprise and they could use it for free. After that depending on scale there might be scope for paid access on a rising scale depending on income or a subsidised rate for those working for community orgs. So far I've only mentioned the start-up and volunteering scenario to the local council and they have been positive but need to prove interest/demand.

You've mentioned how it will benefit parents, but how about focussing on the benefits to organisations.

For example, less people in the office saves on the amount of office space needed. Employees can meet with clients in a professional location if needed. Employers can be sure that their staff aren't trying to look after their children and work at the same time (which could lead to lower productivity). It allows parents to network, which could be good for businesses.

Thank you those are wonderful examples of benefits. I'd been considering more the benefits to the wider economy such as the £billions that would be added to the economy we had a chance to fulfil our potential. But you are right a case needs to be built to sell to individual employers. Really grateful for that contribution.

How would staffing for the crèche be worked out?

Ratios must be upheld,and two disastrous options would be excess staff (expensive) or insufficient places (for if you could not be sure of checking in your DC when you wanted to work, you wouldn't use the place at all), or unpredictability of availability.

Hello,
Staffing shouldn't be a problem as it wouldn't be a 'drop-in' service, parents would have to apply and be given a place. The service would start with say 9 parents and children signed up and have the relevant number of staff on site. As demand grows, parents and children could be brought in batches of 3 and as funding enables. Sensible management should ensure this is not an issue.

I'm not sure if I understand how that differs from sending your child to an existing nursery? How flexible would the service be if spaces had to be pre-booked? If you are staffing for nine children to start, you would have to know that enough parents would be using the service at different times during the week to pay for the required staff to be there. Surely the nature of flexible working means that someone might want to utilise a space at 24 hours notice but would find they couldn't do so because all the spaces are full or because you e.g. have discovered that hardly anyone uses the creche on Fridays so you have staffed to only accept 3 children on that day. I think it's a great idea but will run at a loss if you are really going to be properly flexible.

It sounds like just a nursery with office space attached, but with childcare only available to those using the space.

Doesn't sound financially viable to me tbh. To maintain office space as well, you'd have to charge more than a standard nursery, which means for parents doing a business start up who would normally work from home and have no office space costs, it would be cheaper to just put their child in the nearest nursery.

Or am I missing something?

Hello,
Thanks for all the great comments and considerations. Regarding how it differs from nursery, firstly the overall regulation, a creche is much easier to set up, secondly the cost the parents (free or low cost), as I said earlier it would initially be for parents in the early stages of business start-up, parents wishing to maintain/brush up skills by volunteering for a charity/social enterprise then perhaps opening up to parents working for community/charitable organisations then employers who would be willing to allow staff to participate in scheme. It is very much a community venture to support parents with kids under 3 in these categories, at least to start off with. It would be grant/government funded as it is of benefit to the community/economy etc. In my borough something like this would qualify for community funding if it can be proved that there is demand for it. Of course for parents who can afford nursery, it isn't an issue.

Well free childcare will always be welcome to working parents and I imagine there would always be demand for it. Sorry I assumed it was a business you were planning to set up rather than a funded service you'd be running free or heavily subsidised to users. There's obviously more money available in your borough than most places!

If you need specific interest in it to get your funding then try posters in local community centres/playgroups and on local parenting websites, getting people to sign up to register interest.

Let's see if they put their money where their mouth is!

I will definitely put some posters and leaflets together and Mumsnet have kindly said I can post in the campaigns section.

Once again thanks for your comments and taking the time to respond.

I would very much have been interested in this when my two were younger. When starting up my business I forked out a fortune in childcare costs before having income to fund it.

Government funding would only be via the funded hours, or to parents via tax credits. You'd need to find a grant giving body.

Crèches have different rules, and a short maximum stay. Is 2 hours or so really going to make that much difference to people? For longer, it would need to be proper day care registration.

I think we can apply for community grant funding as any other community project would. And yes, there are a few grant giving bodies we could apply to also.
I was told that provision could be for 4 hours by the Early Years department and that is at one stretch. Potentially you could have an hour break or so and start a 'second' session. If not 4 hours is reasonable.