In the ongoing debate over childcare provision in Ireland, the conversation almost always boils down to two opposing arguments: should the Government subsidise formal childcare services, or should it offer increased child benefit or tax breaks to all families? Proponents of increased State funding of childcare point to the role this plays in facilitating the participation of mothers in the workforce. Those who favour direct cash payments point out that parents who wish to stay at home to care for their own children also deserve support. They say cash payments allow all families to make the choice that best suits them.
The primary obstacle to those who wish to work full-time outside the home is the hefty childcare bill they face, while giving up a whole income and pension is the primary obstacle faced by those who wish to care for their children at home. Unfortunately, it is hardly ever mentioned that both groups combined represent only a small minority of families.
According to data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, parents of nine-month-olds painted a very nuanced picture when asked the question: “If you were completely free to choose, how many hours a week (paid work) would you like to work?”
The gap between primary and secondary caregivers (though not specified, in practice this is overwhelmingly mothers and fathers, respectively) who report that they would like to work zero hours is very small, at 8.9 per cent vs 7.7 per cent. However, while 61 per cent of secondary caregivers report that they would like to work 35 hours a week or more, the same is true for only 31 per cent of primary caregivers. Instead, 63 per cent report that they would like to work somewhere between 15 and 25 hours per week.
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Part-time employment is the preference of a large majority of mothers. Mothers also tend to transition between full-time, part-time and no employment over the course of their lifetime, particularly while their children are young.
In general, the data is silent on the sexual orientation, marital status and coupled status of the respondent
In practice, OECD data shows that 71 per cent of mothers with children under 14 in Ireland are employed. This is far lower than the 91 per cent who reported that they would like to work more than zero hours per week, while only 24.5 per cent of mothers work part-time. This split between part-time and full-time is nowhere near that desired by mothers. Many mothers, therefore, are working either more or less than they would ideally like.
The OECD data only reports on mothers, without saying whether they are married, coupled but unmarried, or single parents, or anything about the gender of their spouse or partner. In general, the data is silent on the sexual orientation, marital status and coupled status of the respondent. Another point to make is that fathers’ preferences in general tend not to be interrogated to the same degree as mothers’.
The cash-versus-subsidies argument, therefore, merely caters to the extreme ends of the spectrum, and in so doing fails to address the most pressing need of most families: part-time work and part-time childcare. As most parents know, the chances of finding either, let alone both, are slim. The challenge is not financial but logistical.
The preference for part-time work of course makes sense when you consider that a 9-5 work schedule operates on the assumption that someone else is looking after your house and your kids all day. It is unfortunate that the increase in women entering and remaining in the workforce did not change this assumption. Instead, we simply assumed mothers could now work as though they were childless, just as fathers had done.
In practice, of course, this plays out as mothers providing a disproportionate amount of care relative to fathers. Women perform the majority of care work, even if they are employed, and only half of fathers take the two weeks of paternity leave (while almost all mothers take 26 weeks of maternity leave). The discrepancy between mothers’ and fathers’ uptake of parent’s leave is even greater, at two-thirds versus one-quarter.
While some of this may reflect different preferences for balancing work and family among men and women, it is hard to believe that half of fathers simply choose not to take even a fortnight off work when a baby is born. Gendered norms and cultural roles and assumptions surely play at least some role. Furthermore, research shows that when fathers do avail of flexible working, they are more involved with their children.
Increased spending by Government on childcare has seen uptake of formal childcare increase, but with very little corresponding increase in maternal employment
The frustrating irony is that Governmental regulations themselves can drive costs of childcare provision, often with no obvious rationale. For example, the required ratio of adults to children between ages three and six is one to eight. However, during ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) hours – provided free by the Government – the ratio is one to 11, and kicks in at 2½ years of age. The exact same children, cared for by the exact same staff, in the exact same facility, somehow require more care, which of course costs more money, when parents foot the bill.
In this context, it’s no wonder that few childcare providers offer part-time hours, as catering to continually fluctuating numbers of children all day compounds the difficulties already caused by varying and inconsistent ratio requirements.
Imposing higher costs on centre-based care may somewhat explain the data that shows a preference among parents for informal care over formal care, despite the fact that only the latter is eligible for subsidisation. Increased spending by Government on childcare has seen uptake of formal childcare increase, but with very little corresponding increase in maternal employment, and the research suggests that parents would be better served by extending subsidisation to informal carers such as childminders and nannies. These providers tend to offer non-standard and more flexible hours, which is exactly what most parents want.
On the employment side, while flexible and remote working has increased since the pandemic, nearly half of workers in small organisations say that flexible working hours are not available. While a right to request flexible working has been introduced, along with parent’s leave, in recent years, there still appears to be unmet demand for part-time and flexible work.
Finding solutions that enable families to access the childcare options they truly desire is not easy. Reforming the structure of childcare funding, addressing inflexible workplace norms and reversing decades of gendered narratives around childcare is far harder than spending more money, with the split of such funding between childcare providers and parents a mere detail. However, failing to grasp the subtleties of the policy challenge in this space ultimately does not serve families well. A data-driven approach would be a good first step.
Muireann Lynch is a senior research officer at the ESRI
