|
|
Child Care News for Parents & Carers
February 18, 2015
|
|
|
|
|
As child care places for the under twos are in critically short supply and child care costs rocketing, we ask who should get that last place - a working mum or a stay at home mum? Is there a case for prioritising? This generation of parents is often criticised for being too soft or accommodating to children. Our article asks "are we being judged too harshly?"
|
|
| Chronic shortage of care for under 2s
|
|
|
|
Should working mums have priority?
It's the eternal dilemma: who is most in need of child care and should scarce places be prioritised for children of working mums? While the majority of places in child care centres are taken up by children whose parents both work to some extent, there are also many children whose parents do not both work, but who attend child care for social or educational reasons, or simply for parent respite.
The Productivity Commission's proposed changes to the child care rebate/child care benefit to include other forms of qualified carers, may have an impact on the shortage of places, if the changes come into play, but for the time being child care for the under twos will remain in critically short supply and is getting more and more expensive.
If you're a mum who desperately needs to get back to work, but can't find a child care place for love nor money in your neighbourhood or near your workplace, this lack of places poses a huge problem.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parents are increasingly coming under fire
by Sophie Cross
Hands up who sometimes feels they're not quite up to the mark on the parenting front? Hands up who has actually been told that by a family member, colleague, friend or even by someone at the school gate who is essentially a total stranger?
It would be interesting to be able to see how many of you haven't put up your hands. I imagine it's very few. Much like the public view that every pregnant woman's bump is open to touching and stroking by total strangers, there seems to be a growing trend that allows people to think they can criticise parents on the job they're doing, no matter whether they know them or not.
I have indeed in the past been told, even by my own dear father, after a few wines at Sunday lunch, that I'm doing "a crap job" at bringing up my daughter. This was sparked by her unwillingness to eat her peas and my unwillingness to make her. Personally I prefer to save my energy and pick my battles. But what gives my Dad the right to think he can say that? Presumably his own parenting perfection…ahem.
|
|
|
|
|
Need to know your child care options fast?
|
|
Get a report of child care services that have vacancies now… and receive alerts whenever services change their vacancies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
