Unions and Opposition politicians call for more financial support for parents working outside the home, writes Alison Healy
Unions and Opposition politicians have called on the Government to provide more support for parents on childcare, following revelations that some parents are paying over €1,000 a month for childcare for just one infant.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office yesterday showed that some Dublin parents were paying as much as €6.61 an hour to creches or Montessori schools for children of school-going age, while childminders charged an average of €4.53 per hour for pre-school children, or more than €800 a month.
After Dublin, the mid-eastern, mid-western and midland regions were the most expensive, charging an average of €3.25 per hour for toddlers, or about €585 per month.
The south-eastern and western regions were the cheapest for childcare, with pre-school children averaging €2.59 per hour, or more than €450 a month. The average charged in the Border region was €2.86 per hour for pre-school children and €4.42 for school-going children.
A newspaper survey of 22 Dublin creches earlier this week found that the Giraffe centre in Loughlinstown was the most expensive, at €910 a month for a baby.
Yesterday, Mr Simon Dowling, joint managing director of the Giraffe group of childcare centres said the survey was not accurate as it did not compare like with like.
"Apart from that, we are not the most expensive. I know of several creches charging over €1,000 a month," he said.
The provision of high-quality childcare was an expensive business for parents and childcare providers, he said. "The Government must recognise this and be pro-active in making it easier for everyone. People have a right to pursue a career and have children. The Government is reluctant to do anything on tax breaks because it is a politically sensitive issue."
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on the Government to take a targeted approach to childcare. Ms Joan Carmichael, ICTU assistant general secretary, called for a package of measures, including tax breaks, subventions and the provision of buildings.
She said parents in lower paid jobs in the private sector were hit with a double whammy as they did not have flexible working arrangements and they couldn't afford childcare.
She pointed out that the number of married women, aged between 25-34 and working outside the home had fallen by 2 per cent in the past two years. Problems with childcare had to be a factor in this, she said. "This is a worrying trend for several reasons if it continues."
Fine Gael described as "amazing", the fact that an organised childcare system has not been developed to cater for the 40 per cent of families using childcare.
"The cost is enormous. It's the equivalent of a mortgage and it is such a strain on young families," said Ms Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael spokeswoman on health and children.
"The Government must be looking at how it make it possible to be a family and still go out to work. There's not one prescriptive answer but if you want women to stay in the workforce, then you have to put tax breaks in place to make that possible," she said.
"The cost of childcare is clearly becoming an inhibiting factor for women remaining in the workforce," said Ms Kathleen O'Meara, Labour Party spokeswoman on children.
A Government spokeswoman said the Government had a package of measures to support childcare needs, including county childcare strategies, grant aid and new childcare places.
Alison Healy
More than 40 per cent of parents of pre-school children regularly use childcare, according to the first childcare survey released by the Central Statistics Office yesterday.
It found that pre-school children in more than 73,000 families were regularly cared for by somebody other than their parents. Almost 23,000 families regularly relied on unpaid relatives to mind pre-school children. Lone parents were more reliant on this form of childcare.
The CSO survey, conducted late last year, showed an increased demand towards work-based creches. About one fifth of families with young children said they would welcome alternative childcare arrangements. Nearly half of those said financial reasons were preventing them from availing of their desired alternative.
Almost half of those seeking alternatives said they would like a workplace creche or Montessori school. Ms Joan Carmichael, ICTU assistant general secretary, said this was significant as there had been a move away from work-based creches in recent years.
Longer working hours and more commuting could explain why people wanted to have their young children near their workplace, she said. The desire for workplace creches highlighted the need for extended parental leave and more flexible family arrangements, according to Ms Kathleen O'Meara, Labour spokeswoman on children.
According to the CSO figures, parents spent between €79.42 to €118.96 per week on childcare arrangements. However, this figure is not a true reflection of the typical childcare bill being paid by a parent working full time outside the home, as it includes part-time workers, some working as little as one to 10 hours a week.
The ICTU has asked the CSO to expand on this information to show how many parents are working part-time or flexible hours. The average cost per hour is a more accurate figure - parents of pre-school children paid an average of €3.25 per hour, while parents of school-going children paid €4.70 per hour last year. Parents in Dublin paid €6.61 per hour for school-going children in creches and Montessori schools, while childminders charged €4.53 per hour for younger children.
These charges appear to be lower than in Britain where a Daycare Trust survey in January found that the typical cost of a nursery place for a baby was £128, or €184.32 per week. The average cost for a toddler's care in this State was about €130 per week last year, while a creche place in Dublin was €181.20 per week.
