Childcare in Northern Ireland is in crisis as the gap between what parents get in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK widens, a new parents’ group has said.
Coverage for three and four year olds in Northern Ireland is less than half that of the rest of the UK.
Parents are now entitled to 12.5 hours of subsidized pre-school education per week.
This compares to 30 hours in the rest of the UK.
The new lobby group Melted Parents NI is committed to reforming child care – the group was founded six weeks ago and now has more than 5,000 members.
Paula O’Neill, one of the group’s founders, told Evening Extra that the name came about because the childcare situation in Northern Ireland “melted parents’ heads”.
Before the devolved government was suspended last year, it had been working on a childcare strategy – but this has been put on hold as there was no power-sharing leader in Stormont.
“We cannot carry on as things are in Northern Ireland,” she said.
“There were parents who said they wanted their child to go to preschool but it would ruin them financially,” she added.
It was announced in the Spring Budget that free 30-hour childcare for working parents in England would be extended to one- and two-year-olds.
Ms O’Neill said the announcement underscored that the gap between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland was widening.
“We pay the same taxes here as people do in England, there is a crisis here, we can no longer go on and if we don’t get together as parents to say enough is enough – then we need our government to take care of that .” Action – who is?
She described the situation as “unsustainable”.
Once additional spending is decided for England – in this case childcare – the Barnett formula is used to allocate money to the devolved nations.
However, the Northern Ireland Office has stated that any Barnett consequences for Northern Ireland during the year – i.e.
“We know we get childcare money through the Barnett Consequence to get equivalent services, but we don’t have the same services as in the UK,” Ms O’Neill said.
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She added: “Sometimes it’s seen as a mummy problem – but that’s not the case. We believe it is a macroeconomic issue affecting our healthcare services and social mobility.”
“As an accountant, I always hear that companies can’t hire staff.
“There is a shortage of skilled workers in Northern Ireland – so on the one hand we have companies that cannot staff and on the other hand parents who cannot afford to work.
“Childcare is an economic infrastructure – we would like the Government to provide parents in Northern Ireland with immediate help,” she added.
Shauna Collinson is a mother to a 13-month-old child and has a full-time job while her husband is self-employed.
They struggled to find available, accessible childcare so they could continue their employment.
“We had to put ourselves on a crèche waiting list and I had to extend my maternity period, which meant using savings, which put you behind when it comes to paying for childcare,” she told Evening Extra.
Ms Collinson said the cost of the crèche was £1,300 a month and when you consider that the average income in Northern Ireland is around £1,900 that is a significant amount.
Finally, since their daughter could not settle into the crèche, they finally found a childminder.
“She’s brilliant and my daughter is the best there is for her, but she can’t put in all the hours we need,” she added.
Taking advantage of the family, Shauna and her husband leave to fill the gap.
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