Business

Childcare ‘biggest challenge facing working parents’ in accounting sector

Chartered Accountants Ireland calls for greater government investment in childcare to increase female labour market participation

CAI noted that two thirds of its 33,000 members pay up to €2,000 per month in childcare costs, and 16 per cent (mostly female) have had to reduce their working hours to care for a child. Photograph: iStock

Ellen O’Regan
Fri Jan 5 2024 - 05:00

Improving the cost and availability of childcare is key to greater female participation in the workforce, according to a new paper published by Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI).

A policy paper published by CAI on Friday highlights that the “steep cost and lack of availability of childcare” is the “biggest challenge facing working parents” in the profession today.

It noted that two-thirds of its 33,000 members pay childcare costs, with a third of members paying €1,000-€2,000 per month for childcare, and 16 per cent (mostly female members) having reduced their working hours to care for a child.

CAI recommended that the Government increase childcare funding, capital investment and grant support to the sector to increase female labour market participation and encourage growth in the number of childcare providers.

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It added that Government should also expedite the process of opening up national childcare subsidies to childminders.

CAI president Sinéad Donovan said affordable, quality childcare “drives more sustainable, inclusive economic growth and competitiveness”.

“Government’s ambition to tackle the provision of childcare is welcome for businesses in today’s tight labour market. Paving the way for greater female participation in the workforce should be a priority for policymakers in 2024,” she said.

The policy paper, The Next Financial Year: Building Capacity, set out a number of other recommendations to improve the business environment in the State.

In terms of housing, it suggested that a deferral of PAYE and VAT payments for developers and builders until housing units are sold could reduce development costs, ease cash-flow concerns and make investment more appealing.

The CAI also recommended that further incentives should be provided to encourage private landlords to remain in or move to the Irish market, such as allowing local property tax to be deducted against rental income or allowing non-resident landlords to collect rent directly from tenants.

Regarding the workplace and remote working, CAI called for more certainty in the tax system to “reflect hybrid working norms and bring an end to pandemic experimentation period”.

CAI also noted that digital skills are “essential” to meet current and future workforce needs, and that Government should do more to meet its target of 80 per cent of adults having basic digital literacy skills by 2030.

Dr Brian Keegan, CAI director of public policy, welcomed the Government’s engagement with the institute’s proposals in the past year, but said “more needs to be done”.

“Building capacity in our economy does not stop at the bricks and mortar of much-needed housing supply. It must include targeted measures that actively facilitate women who want to work, and reflect the reality of a more dispersed, and digital-first workplace if businesses are to succeed long-term,” he said.

Ellen O'Regan

Ellen O’Regan

Ellen O’Regan is an Irish Times journalist.

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