Child friendly coworking space - would you use it?

[80sLoz]

Hello everyone, based on my own experiences and challenges of being a single, full-time working mum, I'm thinking of starting a child-friendly coworking space. I want it to be more than just desks and Wi-Fi - but a space for connection and community for us parents doing the same juggle. It seems there are very few cowork set ups like this in the UK. I've done a short survey but not sure if I'm allowed to share here... general thoughts most welcome though - is it a good idea? Would you use a space like this? What would make it valuable to you? Thanks so much 🙏

I'm not your target audience, but don't most firms insist that you can't be doing childcare and work at the same time? If you are being paid to work then that's what they expect you doing - not socialising/looking after your kids at the same time.

If it's for the self employed then maybe you'd get some takers, but I can think of few things worse than trying to juggle my professional commitments in a creche full of other people's small children.

I think you'd get more answers if you posted a clear vision of what you are thinking about.

What is a child-friendly co-working space? if you mean there's space for children to play, ideally supervised, then I might well have used it when my children were younger albeit for shorter time periods. If you just mean that children can come along and hang out on their screens etc, then no. Because inevitably my children or other children would disturb and disrupt me/other people.

Child-friendly is not work-friendly.

Might appeal to some employed parents, I suppose, if they don't want to wfh.

It won't be suitable for employed people as very few employers would be OK for you to work while also doing childcare.

I've seen something about a library that has some computers/desks set up with an attached playpen type thing.
I think they're aimed at parents who might need to use computers for short periods or time or perhaps students.
Our contracts state that you cannot be responsible for a young child when working from home. There is a little flex if the child is sick and they don't want you to take time off

No because I can’t work with my children around me, let alone anyone else’s.

A better option would be a co working place with an onsite creche/nursery.
you can’t effectively work and look after your child at the same time- something has to give.

Absolutely not.

I don't want to work with my own child present let alone other people's.

I don't want a community or connections with strangers while I am trying to work. I want peace and quiet!

Absolute hard 100% nope.

I'm childfree so obvs not for me

But The first thing I thought is, who is your target audience? If it's people who are currently working at home with kids, then isn't that going to be easier for them rather than taking their laptop, anything else they need for work, their child and anything the child needs, to another place?

by the time you've paid overheads, would you have enough customers?

Unless what you're actually talking about is a creche with a workspace attached. So two completely separate areas. But then you're proposing running a childcare facility with a workspace attached, which is a very different business proposition.

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No, because people who think this is a good idea would be the kind of people who let their kids run riot, have really loud inconsiderate phone calls and are just generally not good to share a space with.

Exactly this. How would it work? Can’t picture something that would actually function as a workplace if kids can be there too.

Surely the whole point is when you are at work you shouldn’t be looking after children at the same time .

There was one in our local community centre, which was brilliant. It had a creche in one room, the workspace was across the hall. They also ran a shopping creche so you could leave a child for an hour while you got shopping.

Which would be prohibitively expensive.

And running a creche is a whole different ballgame from providing co-working space.

Only if the children are in a separate area with supervision, maybe like a soft play area.

Nothing worse than having screaming
children in the background when on a call.

Having other people's children running around a coworking space - no way.

We had one locally. It didn’t last, so can’t have been that successful - I’m not sure of the details as it opened slightly after my DC were of that sort of age.

I agree. Co-located flexible childcare and work space yes, potentially great although I suspect the labour costs plus rent plus IT support plus co-working facilities could make it very expensive. Actually in the same room, definitely not!

Do people want connection and community while working a desk job? While a group of kids is around?
How would that work with their employers, surely it would be violating their contract- parenting and developing a community instead of their job?

Would the children be there in the same space as people trying to work?
Or do you mean a space with childcare available in the same building as hot-desk space?
The first option is a terrible idea, the second could work depending on demand

This would be a hard no from me. I wfh full time and my kids go to after school club because it's impossible to work with them around. Other people's kids would be even worse.

What does child friendly mean - dcs are I a separate room with supervision? Ds's playing together without supervision? In the same room?

It'll only work if it provides a separate on-site crèche

I took it to mean kids loose in the workspace, being child-friendly, because the kids kept in a separate room would just be a hired work room with a crèche.

I’d definitely not want other peoples Children around me as I worked. I’d only just be able to control and predict my own Childrens needs and demands etc. Other parents probably have different expectations.

on site supervised crèche - that would work though

Surely it only works if there are workers providing child care then it falls under regulations etc and work space needs to be seperate so parents can work.