Reports are published, talking shops are set up, but the Government is still struggling to get to grips with the childcare crisis, writes Kate Holmquist
Ten per cent of Irish citizens are children aged six and under and they are political dynamite. Politicians are floundering in the attempt to solve the so-called childcare crisis, which will be a major issue at the next election.
Meanwhile, 10 Government reports prepared in 10 years are gathering dust. And now there's a talking shop involving six departments at the Cabinet table in an effort to get some joined-up thinking on childcare.
The National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) this week criticised the "great vacuum in policy implementation, even on issues that have been agreed on by Government" in its draft report on Early Childhood Care and Education. It also criticised "the very insufficient financial investment in the education and care of our younger citizens".
The NESF quoted an OECD finding that Irish childcare investment is low by EU standards, at less than 0.2 per cent of GDP. The OECD painted "a picture of inaction, peripheral implementation and drift". "What we need is a champion for childcare," NESF chairwoman Maureen Gaffney said.
Procrastination over the issue is said publicly to be due partly to a lack of co- ordination among the six departments responsible for childcare and education. Privately, those responsible admit to a fear of alienating stay-at-home mothers.
But they may be out of touch. For a start, fathers are increasingly as concerned about childcare as mothers. And there are now far more mothers with young children working outside the home than staying at home. Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures published this week show that 103,000 women, married or in a couple, and with at least one child under the age of five, are employed, compared to 63,000 in this category who are full-time mothers. Mothers of children under three are also more likely now to be working outside the home than not. The exceptions are lone parents, who, because they cannot afford childcare, are less likely to work if they have young children.
Experts predict that we're likely to see a critical lack of at least 40,000 childcare places by 2010. No surprise then that during the recent Kildare and Meath by-elections, commuter-belt parents highlighted the problem. One Fianna Fáil politician confided that he hoped things were different "down the country". However, that is unlikely, given the fact, according to the CSO, that the parents of one in five children in childcare countrywide believe their childcare provision to be inadequate.
Childcare now ranks as one of the top three issues for the next general election, along with health and crime. But there's no pleasing everyone on this emotive issue.
For example, Green Party leader John Gormley claims that mothers are being "forced" out to work by a Government that puts the economy before family life. Yet CSO statistics show otherwise: only 10 per cent of mothers who work outside the home want to stay home and mind their children themselves. The Forum on the Workplace of the Future has stated that women's high standards of education and skills are being under-utilised due to a lack of affordable childcare. And while we may hear alarming anecdotes about children parked in creches from 7am until 7pm, the CSO found that most parents manage to limit childminder and creche time to 30 hours per week or less.
The Greens would like to solve the childcare crisis partly by introducing financial benefits that would give one parent the choice of staying at home with the children. Fianna Fáil is also likely to emphasise choice, by introducing an increase in child benefit rather than the working tax credits proposed by Labour and Fine Gael.
The cost, quality and availability of childcare, rather than whether to use it, seems now to be the major issue for Irish parents. Labour's required dowry for a coalition is a €1 billion childcare programme that would include childcare subsidies. Irish parents pay double the EU average for childcare, with creche and childminding fees costing about €156 per child per week countrywide and closer to €200 per week in Dublin.
The CSO found that 20 per cent of parents would prefer activity-based after-school care. The PDs, Labour and Fine Gael have all suggested using school buildings, leaving more money for staff and programmes.
The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, boasts that 36,000 childcare places are being created in private creches, which were given €300 million in capital subsidies under the National Development Plan. Privately, Government sources admit that the programme has not solved the crisis. While many new places may have been created, thousands of existing places were lost as excellent small creches closed due to new regulations, planning problems, high wages and poor economies of scale.
Whoever is in government next, it's likely that maternity leave will be extended to one year to reduce the numbers of children needing childcare.
But this issue isn't just about allowing parents into the workforce. It has been proved that early childhood education increases the social and learning skills of children. The NESF said this week that the long-term benefits outweigh the costs: every euro spent on early childhood education comes back seven-fold. So investment in childcare can reduce costs in health care and justice.
Maureen Gaffney is right: we have a leadership vacuum on the issue and we need a champion. Sadly, nobody wants to be a hero.
Italy
The low number of women in Italian politics and the survival of traditional "Mediterranean" role models for men and women mean that an issue such as childcare comes some way down the priority list. But this is not to say that Italy does not have a real childcare issue. Given that women are ever more present in the Italian workforce, the question is one of great relevance. Yet it continues to be seen not as an issue for parents but as an issue for women. Some 60 per cent of pre-school Italian children are looked after by grandparents when parents are out at work. Only 20 per cent of children use public or private creche facilities, while 11 per cent are looked after at home by babysitters.
Benefits/drawbacks
Maternity/paternity leave: Mothers are entitled to five months' leave on 80 per cent pay (one or two months before birth, four or three after), with a further six months on 30 per cent pay. Mother and father are then entitled to a further 10 months (combined) of "parental leave" on 30 per cent pay, at any time during a child's first eight years.
State contribution to childcare costs: Child allowances (approximately €500 per annum per child) are available to those in lower-income brackets, while mothers with incomes lower than €70,000 can claim a tax break worth €400 per year. Public creches are run by local authorities and tend to be relatively cheap - €80 per month for a full-day service. Demand for public creches, however, far outstrips supply while most local authorities impose a means test which, de facto, excludes dual-income families. Private creche costs vary but the average for big cities is around €500 per month.
Favoured forms of childcare: 54.5 per cent, grandparents; 22.4 per cent, creche; 11 per cent, babysitter; 8.9 per cent, parents.
Birth rate: Dropping at 8.89 per 1,000.
Paddy Agnew
France
Childcare is not currently a burning issue. There is a difference between the achievement-oriented culture of Ireland and the culture of France, where quality of life is paramount. Even under the best of conditions, many French women would choose not to work, or to work part-time, during their children's early years.
Sixty-eight per cent of women aged 15 to 64 work, while 42.4 per cent of French women with two children aged under six work part-time.
Benefits/drawbacks
Maternity/paternity leave: Maternity leave begins six weeks before the child's due date and ends 10 weeks after. Paternity leave is three days plus 11 consecutive days, and the compensation is about €2,500, which is provided by social security.
State contribution to childcare costs: This is considerable until the age of three, then lower until the age of six, after which it ceases. However, at that stage, long school hours and after-school clubs make it less necessary. Garderie, costing 2 per hour, is available in most primary schools, to take care of children from 8am to 6pm.
Favoured forms of childcare: There is a range of schemes to support working parents, but approximately 2 per cent of small children are cared for in the home by their parents under a scheme which helps reimburse lost income. Many children go to a nounou, a state-trained childminder who cares for them in his or her home. Financial support for this from the government varies according to income, but can cover nearly the entire cost. Creche care is similarly funded. Children have a right to go to maternelle (kindergarten) as soon after the age of two as they are toilet-trained, but in fact there is a lack of available spaces and some children do not have the opportunity until the age of three.
Birth rate: Rising at 12.15 per 1,000.
Alva MacSherry
Germany
Germany gave the world the kindergarten but quality of childcare varies drastically from state to state, with former communist eastern states better provided for. Family politics is never far from the headlines, but the upcoming election will be decided on unemployment and welfare reform. The Berlin government has increased "material" childcare spending by 50 per cent to €59 billion since 1998, but now wants to increase indirect spending on infrastructure. A new proposal would create a parents' allowance of 70 per cent of their previous income, costing €1.2 billion annually.
Sixty-four per cent of mothers work but only 16 per cent of those with children under six.
Benefits/drawbacks
Maternity/paternity leave: Mothers get paid leave of 14 weeks (up to six weeks, optional, before birth, and eight obligatory weeks after). Three years' parental leave is offered, with an allowance of up to €300 a month (one or both parents simultaneously). It is also possible to work part-time up to 30 hours without losing allowance.
State contribution to childcare costs: Twenty per cent of under-threes in the eastern states have an 80 per cent-subsidised creche place, but only 1.4 per cent in the western states. Children aged between three and six have a right to a kindergarten place, costing parents between 50 and €200 a month (the other 70-80 per cent of the cost is covered by the state).
Favoured forms of childcare: There is greater reliance on formal structures than on parents and extended families. An alternative to creche care is a childminder, a so-called Tagesmutter (day mother), charging anything upwards of 5 an hour.
Birth rate: Dropping at 8.45 per 1,000.
Derek Scally
Hungary
With elections less than a year away, the opposition centre-right Fidesz party is well ahead of the Socialists in the polls and is seen as more willing to cut benefits. International pressure is building on Hungary to overhaul its childcare system, which includes provision for three years of maternity leave, and to increase incentives and opportunities for mothers to return to work. Many Hungarian mothers struggle to place their young children in state-run, free or subsidised day-care centres and nurseries, which are hugely over-subscribed. And, as Hungary's women now work further into middle age, fewer members of the extended family are free to look after children.
In the capital, Budapest, it can cost more than 200 a month for a child to spend just 12 hours a week at a nursery, expensive in a country where the average monthly wage is less than 400.
According to 2003 figures, 51 per cent of Hungarian women go to work.
Benefits/drawbacks
Maternity/paternity leave: Mothers receive benefit payments as a proportion of their previous wage, up to a maximum of 75,000 forints (300) a month for the first six months of leave. Benefit is gradually reduced over three years of statutory leave. Fathers are only granted a few days statutory leave
State contribution to childcare costs: Free or very cheap state nurseries or creches are massively over-subscribed. Modest tax breaks are available to families, but only apply to the earnings of one parent.
Favoured forms of childcare: Extended families are still the preferred source of childcare but, especially in the big cities, creches and nannies are filling the gap created as more women work later in life.
Birth rate: Gradually falling at 9.3 per 1,000 (2003 figures).
Daniel McLaughlin
The UK
More women than ever in the UK are choosing not to have children, although the birth rate among ethnic minorities is growing. Concerns over the quality and expense of childcare have led the Blair government to introduce a system of working tax credits to offset the cost of childcare for families on low incomes, and this may be extended. The number of nursery school places has quadrupled, although this is not parents' preferred option of childcare.
Blair's proposal to extend nursery education to two-year-olds got a frosty reception and "universal childcare"(a nursery place for every child), once promised by Gordon Brown, is now regarded as inflexible, expensive and possibly detrimental to children. There is strong resistance to "institutionalising" children under three. Last year, the UK doubled maternity leave to one year, when parents made it clear that they prefer to look after their babies themselves for as long as they can. Parental leave costs the same as providing a nursery place.
The government is currently exploring alternatives to day-care, such as payments to grandmothers and incentives to childminders.The UK is spending relatively little on subsidising childcare: 0.3 per cent GDP, compared to 2 per cent GDP in Sweden.
The percentage of British women in the workforce is 69.6 per cent, and two-thirds of women return to work after having babies.
Benefits/drawbacks
Maternity/paternity leave: Mothers are entitled to 26 weeks of paid leave plus 26 weeks of unpaid leave. Fathers receive two weeks' paid paternity leave. Thirteen unpaid weeks of leave is also available.
State contribution to childcare costs: Parents are entitled to child benefit, a child tax credit and a working tax credit, plus possible help with childcare costs for those who are eligible.
Favoured forms of childcare: Grandparents first choice, childminders second.
Birth rate: Dropping at 10.78 per 1,000.
Kate Holmquist
Norway
The Norwegian government is committed to providing day-care centres for all children aged between one and five. Currently, there are not enough places to meet demand. A "cash for care" allowance, payable to stay-at-home mothers caring for children aged one to three, has been the subject of heated political debate.
The opposition Labour Party would like to have this benefit abolished so that the money could be used in the funding of additional day-care centres. It sees the "cash for care" option as essentially a lifestyle choice and as regressive because it encourages women back into the home rather than into employment.
Benefits/drawbacks
Maternity/paternity leave: Fifty-two weeks at 80 per cent of earnings or 42 weeks at 100 per cent, with a one-month paternity leave quota included in the package.
State contribution to childcare costs: State support constitutes the largest source of income for Norway's childcare centres.
Favoured forms of childcare: The barnehage system (kindergarten), for which fees vary according to income, from a maximum of €2,750 and a minimum of €95 per month. "Cash for care" payments amount to €457 per month, and taxpayers are entitled to a refundable tax credit for children under the age of 19 and an additional tax allowance for children under 12. Single-income families receive an extra tax deduction. Child benefit is worth €121 per month (up to the age of 18).
Birth rate: Stable at 12.2 per 1,000.
Audrey Andersen