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Paid to parent?
I’d just finished clearing up the debris from another chaotic breakfast and another fraught school run, when I heard a news item on the radio about a new report which proposed paying me about £150 a week for doing my daily childcare routine. Rather than feeling grateful, I felt angry. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that the hard labour of being at home with small children generally goes unrecognised by society at large and it’s about time parents got more support in the valuable job they do. But this proposal seems to be barking up the wrong tree.
In fact, the report by the Independent Childcare Commission calls for ‘generous financial support’ to be offered to parents to spend on childcare or to enable one parent to stay at home. It does not specify how much. The £150 figure was a guesstimation. Whilst agreeing with the spirit of this proposal, for me it offers an idealistic solution totally out of touch with reality. In my book no price is right for this job when hospitals are in such dire straights, schools cannot afford to keep good teachers and pensioners get such a raw deal. If we, as a society, cannot agree to pay more tax to fund our health and education services properly, how could such a plan ever see the light of day?
Apart from that, headlines like these are a distraction from the real issues facing today’s parents. As the report acknowledges, we live in a period of huge social upheaval. More women are starting their families later, couples increasingly rely on two incomes to cover their costs and we’re all mobile now, making the old family support network a thing of the past. What we should be focusing on is the art of the possible, responding to social changes and looking at what society at large is prepared to accept.
My personal experience is a case in point. I recently left the secure world of monthly salaried work after the birth of my second child. I loved my job but found I could no longer juggle shift-work, childcare and the general upkeep of our home. After ten years in a fulfilling career it was hard to do. Financially, we weren’t much worse off because nearly all my salary had been going on childcare and we were in a situation where something had to give. Two small children are an exhilarating challenge and I had gone back to work so quickly after my first child that I hardly had time to understand my new situation or adjust to the different lifestyle my baby required. Now I treasure the moments with my children and realise how short this time with them will be. My selfish fears are not for now but for the future: how will I ever fit back into the world of work, what will I have to offer, how will I keep up with computer developments, how do I work and manage the holidays?
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