30% of parents could not attend work due to lack of childcare
By Mark Keane
Almost 30 per cent of parents could not attend work or missed out on job opportunities due to a lack of childcare, according to a new survey.
It revealed that women are twice as likely as men to miss work due to having no childcare.
The survey, carried out on behalf of Seas Suas, questioned 1,000 people on a series of childcare related issues, including their views on preferred State supports.
Seas Suas is the representative body for independent providers in the early education and childcare sector.
The organisation’s survey revealed that nearly 28 per cent of parents have missed out on job opportunities, could not attend work and were unable to return to work after maternity leave as a result of a lack of childcare.
According to 41 per cent of respondents, tax allowances is the most popular form of possible State supports, while 33 per cent want a universal weekly payment for all pre-school children.
Other key findings revealed that 68 per cent of those surveyed said that cost is the biggest childcare challenge for families, with 75 per cent in favour of increased State investment in childcare services.
With the childcare sector facing staffing shortages, 32 per cent of respondents support the introduction of a dedicated apprenticeship scheme for entrants to the sector.
Discussing the survey’s findings, Regina Bushell, chairperson of Seas Suas, said: “This survey confirms a lot of what early education and childcare providers are already hearing every day from the parents whose children we care for.
“For working parents affording childcare is one of the biggest challenges they face, this situation is made all the worse by the underfunding of the sector by successive Governments.”
She added that Ireland still “lags far behind most other EU states” and that it’s “very disappointing” to see the impact the lack of affordable childcare is having on women, in particular.
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