FT reader survey: Childcare subsidies will help women return to the workplace
Sarah’s entire monthly salary went on paying for nursery fees for her son when he was young and yet it still wasn’t enough to cover the costs in full — the rest had to come out of her husband’s wages. Now her child is at school her childcare costs have come down, but she says more needs to be done to support mothers returning to the workforce.
“It seems that only the wealthiest people — those who can easily afford childcare — are able to have more than one child and go back to work full-time,” the England-based healthcare worker in her forties told the Financial Times.
It seems she is far from alone in this view. A global survey of FT readers heard from many parents around the world about the difficulties of juggling career and childcare. The survey, carried out in the first half of September, gathered more than 100 responses from people on how to improve childcare provision.
Carol, not her real name, is in her thirties and works in London as a finance director. She relies heavily on nursery provision for her two children and believes childcare should be funded by the government.
“It’s more challenging as the day is much longer since kids are home and not allowing you to focus on work. We are now working until past midnight each night,” he explained.
The father of three, who is paying roughly $25,000 a year for childcare, says things have got worse since the onset of the pandemic as childcare has still not returned to normal hours, and he and his wife spend much less time working and more time parenting. “It’s brutal and the pandemic has only made things more difficult.”
Respondents suggested employers could help working parents with emergency childcare should a sudden, unexpected need arise, as well as on- and off-site summer camps — or partnering with third parties to make it easier for parents to find these resources themselves.
But while these things are all nice to have, the majority of respondents agreed that whether or not women return to the workplace will come down to affordability. “Women will not be equals in the workplace until the economics of childcare are worked out,” said Sarah.
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This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Lucy Warwick-Ching
