€2,000 a month or quitting their job facing Naas parents in childcare crisis

Alarming statistics collected by a local mother have brought forward the issue of childcare in one of the fastest-growing towns in Ireland, Naas Co. Kildare, which has experienced a 22.38% increase in its population between 2016 and 2022, significantly higher than the national average.

The county’s overall population grew at a much higher rate than that of the state (+8.1%) and Kildare experienced the fourth-highest level of population growth nationally.

These numbers have facilitated an enormous strain on services in Kildare with parents living in Naas and around the county scrambling to secure or even afford childcare with the key areas of struggle being early childhood care and after-school care.

Survey

Statistics out of 89 respondents:

– 60% of have no childcare secured before the coming school term

– 62% are on a waiting list

– 52% cannot return to work as a result of these factors

You can read responses from Naas parents regarding their extensive childcare struggles at the bottom of this article.

Caithlin Craig

The person behind the impromptu survey is Caithlin Craig, an occupational therapist and mother of three who has managed to secure childcare (at enormous cost) but has seen many friends and neighbours suffer in their search for adequate childcare in the Naas area.

“When I do return to work and I have the three of my children in childcare in January, I'm looking at €2,000 a month,” Craig said.

“This issue also disproportionately affects women. It will be me that reduces my hours. It will be me that will have to look for a different job when my second child starts school because there are no afterschool places in Naas, at all. I've spoken to all of the TDs in Naas. Lots of them at this point have completely dropped off. They're not emailing back anymore.”

Craig’s survey results were collected just before the release of the proposed Naas Northwest Quadrant Development Plan 2023-2029, which has further fuelled concern for parents in the area with a target of 4,000 homes listed alongside a maximum of three crèches provisioned for use under ‘local centres’. The plan accounts for one primary school, one post-primary school and one special educational needs school but it is care after schooling hours that many parents in the area continue to struggle with.

Craig added, “From a government perspective, there's very little happening and they know the shortages. There's very little that they're actually putting in place in terms of the here and now. They're looking at a longer term plan, but there's parents that I know who are leaving their jobs because there's no childcare for their children.

“I would worry massively about the future and I should not be worried about my three-year-old starting school. But I am, because I know I cannot work in Tallaght hospital. My manager is amazing. She's a mother herself and she understands all of this. But I could be working at a tech company and my manager could have no understanding of how difficult this is. You're completely at the mercy of other people. It's very, very stress-inducing.”

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Awareness

Councillor’s Bill Clear (now Mayor of Naas), Robert Power and James Lawless all made submissions on the Naas Northwest Quadrant Development Plan with only Clear mentioning childcare as part of his concerns for the proposal.

Clear outlined:

– A community childcare facility should form part of the masterplan.

– Development levies should contribute towards its delivery.

– Existing privately operated childcare facilities already struggle to meet demand.

James Lawless referred to the provision of approximately 4,000 new homes as “a particularly positive aspect of the proposal” but called for “strong emphasis on active travel and sustainable transport” while Robert Power said the plan was a major opportunity for a dedicated rail station for Naas.

All three submissions mention vital issues to consider but the ongoing Naas childcare crisis is listed fifth among Bill Clear’s 12 recommendations and not mentioned by the other two submissions which have been evaluated here. The lack of advocacy for parents who are struggling with this lack of infrastructure continues to be a key problem.

Knock-on effects

The impact of Naas’ childcare crisis is far reaching with many people, mainly women, having to leave their job to seek reduced hours or more flexible employment elsewhere to care for their children with no adequate alternative available to them.

“When I was pregnant with my baby and any break I got in work, which wasn't technically a break, it was just a patient wasn't ready to see me, I would be ringing the crèches, or I'd be ringing the schools, or I'd be ringing TUSLA, because I'm like, what happens if I can't get my child into a school? It's just constantly on your mind. I’m already thinking that I'm going to have to leave the hospital,” Craig explained.

“We were looking 16 months into the future, but already I know I can't be working in the hospital. If you look at the knock-on effect, I'm an occupational therapist, which is on the critical shortage list in terms of professions in Ireland. If I leave, they're down to a very experienced senior, and that affects the department, which then affects the healthcare and the rehab opportunities given to people coming into the hospital. But I have to leave because there aren't adequate childcare solutions for me. It's so far reaching, and I just find it so frustrating.”

Survey respondents from Naas and nearby areas shared similar feelings of being trapped between both an inability to secure expensive childcare and/or an inability to survive on just one member of the household's wages if one parent has to stop working to provide that care themselves.

“There's all these, because resources are so scarce, hidden costs to parents. The crèche can't take a baby until it's one, but maternity leave is paid to six months,” Craig outlined. “So that's six months of families being down a second wage. There's all these hidden costs that just are not realised and are not really thought of by the government at all. They won't take my baby until she's one. I'm back to work in October, so my husband is looking at taking unpaid leave then. So it's very, very difficult.”

Childcare is also just one of a host of infrastructure issues that have been raised in response to the proposal for the Naas Northwest quadrant, which, as outlined, had submission from several TD’s as well as the National Transport Authority and other state bodies.

Craig said, “My middle child, who is three, has kidney issues. And I'm trying to get a GP appointment for her. I was told she would have to wait two weeks and this is a child with a chronic condition. If they don't build the infrastructure first, you'll have existing communities that are or will be fighting for resources. Existing communities shouldn't in any way have massive anxiety about building houses, which are equally needed.”

She added, “Any political party will have my vote for life if they sort this out.”

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EU comparison - France, Sweden, Denmark

Ireland’s reliance on privatised childcare exacerbates the issues facing the nation's parents and other members of the European Union have vastly different and more supportive approaches to early childcare.

In France, managed through the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (CAF), the state subsidises nurseries (crèches) and licensed in-home childminders based on household income. Centre-based collective care like crèches are similarly highly sought after, and parents in French cities often register in the sixth month of pregnancy. However, the costs of this care are heavily income-adjusted via CAF and Irish mothers are currently forced to make calls to crèches as soon as they become pregnant in search of early childcare.

Childminders in France are state-licensed professionals who care for up to four children in their own homes. Parents employ them directly but receive CAF allowances to offset the costs.

Local municipalities will also often offer subsidised before and after-school care (garderie), as well as lunch programs to accommodate working parents.

Sweden guarantees all children aged one to five a publicly subsidised preschool spot if parents work, study, or seek employment. Under the Swedish Education Act, municipalities must offer a preschool spot within four months of a parent's application.

Costs are capped via a maximum fee system, tied to a percentage of household income, with a maximum monthly limit. The maximum monthly limit is set at 3% of a family's total gross income for the first child, up to a strict cap of 1,783 SEK per month (approximately €160), 2% for the second, 1% for the third, and the fourth child is completely free.

Children are also entitled to 15 hours of free preschool weekly from age three and parents share 480 days of paid parental leave, leading many to keep their children home during their first year.

Denmark operates similarly with guaranteed subsidised early childhood education and care for all children from 26 weeks old until school age. Municipalities cover at least 75% of operating costs with parents fees capped at a maximum of 25%.

The information regarding childcare in France, Sweden and Denmark was collected from Eurydice, a network of 43 European National Units providing data and analyses on European education systems.

Survey responses

89 Naas parents responded to Caithlin’s Craig survey with many outlining their specific situation in regards to childcare. Here are 12 of those responses.

1.“If I can't get a crèche place, I can't return to work. I will have to sign on, and we won't make our mortgage repayments let alone everything else. There may be crèche places in other towns, but getting my child there isn't feasible before I start work. I feel totally abandoned by our government. Women! Work, have a family, do it all. But you can't go back to work if you've kids unless you can take a year's unpaid leave lol.”

2. “I have no after-school place for my four year-old. She's been in full time childcare since she was 10 months old but they have no spaces for after-school in the same facility. This was not communicated well to parents and so we were on the back foot looking for alternative after-school. As a consequence, I had to give my notice to work and we are now without a full salary as there are not adequate options in Naas.”

3. “We have had our 14 month old on every waitlist since I was 12 weeks pregnant. No place anywhere, still. My mum has him part time and I've reduced my hours but it's not sustainable for us.”

4. “Complete lack of accessibility and affordability of childcare in Naas. Infrastructure is not keeping pace with development or population growth. This is a huge problem burdening families that TDs are not taking seriously enough with an over-reliance on private providers.”

5. “When I went back to work after my third child I couldn't get anyone in a crèche or privately to mind my three kids. Eventually found this woman who was less than ideal on Facebook. For example, she would leave the three of them inside all day in her apartment with the curtains closed on a summers day and was often still in bed when we tried to drop them off in the morning, she used to give my one year old at the time cans of coke, she had no tax or insurance on her car. We used to feel sick leaving them there but we can't afford for one of us to give up work and we just kept searching.”

6. “My daughter’s preschool does not offer afterschool (they dropped this two years ago), and I can't put her on waiting lists for other afterschool places as we have to wait until October to register her for Primary School and see which one she gets accepted to as this will impact our choices majorly because the schools are in different areas.”

7. “I have been relying on au pairs for the last four years which puts me under financial pressure and also instability for me and my family. In the last two years I had four different au pairs!”

8. “My son has been in a crèche since he's six months old and he now has no after school place for September when he starts school.”

9. “I honestly feel incredibly let down by this current government, working families are barely a thought despite being taxpayers. It is incredibly stressful and difficult thinking about the future or how I can balance being a mother and the necessity of having to work. Even if I do secure childcare places the cost is looking at €1,900 a month for my three children but I still can't afford to give up work. There is no flexibility afforded with crèches so it's full time or nothing. This means I cannot use my parental leave as I can't afford to be down a day. Early care of children is completely forgotten about. Mothers are expected to work like you don't have children.”

10. “We live in an estate with a purpose built crèche and we cannot get a place.”

11. “We were able to secure a place in Naas but we are currently 117th on the waiting list for the crèche near our home.”

12. “We had our children in a creche from babies and I got a call in January to say they would no longer be offering afterschool effective immediately. We had to move my daughter's school to accommodate the afterschool place we secured.”

Conclusion

The issue on everyone’s lips is the housing crisis but, as the Irish government continues its surge towards exponential housing construction, families in Naas and nationwide are dealing with the ramifications of a lack of infrastructure to go alongside these new homes. Leaving employment, prolonged healthcare waits for sick children and astronomical childcare costs are the top-line issues in a serious and far-reaching matter for Irish parents.

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley was asked to comment on this issue but had not responded at the time of going to press.

Article funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme