'I will have to sign on' Naas parents getting desperate in childcare crisis
Naas mother Caithlin Craig collected data from 89 respondents that showed 60% of those still have no childcare secured before the coming school term
Data taken from 89 parents in response to Naas mother of three Caithlin’s Craig survey showed that 60% of have no childcare secured before the coming school term, 62% are on a waiting list and 52% cannot return to work as a result of these factors.
Many respondents also outlined their specific situation in regards to Naas’ childcare crisis. Here are 12 of those responses from impacted Kildare parents.
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.”