THE RECESSION HAS led to parents reducing the amount of hours their children are cared for by childminders, a new survey has revealed.
Childminding Ireland carried out a survey of childminders in Ireland to which people from 23 different counties responded. All but one of the respondents was female and the childminders looked after an average of three children.
Almost half (45 per cent) of respondents reported that parents have reduced the number of hours for which they are seeking childcare. Of these, 76 per cent report a reduction in the parents’ working hours or pay as the reason. Other reasons included: birth of another child, redundancy, family members providing help with childcare and the introduction of the free pre-school year.
In a few cases childcare was reduced by only a few hours but in some it was as much as 50 per cent.
Bernie Griffiths, spokesperson for Childminding Ireland, told TheJournal.ie:
It didn’t surprise us – we had been hearing anecdotally and people have been calling to place vacancies with us. Childminders are very proactive; they are at the coalface, they deal with parents every day, they are the ones who collect and drop the children and relationships are built up. They get to know and understand the issues facing the parents.
She added that childminders are finding ways to respond to the changes in working ours:
They are adapting in ways to offset the drop in traditional hours, by offering various atypical types of child minding such as weekend drop-in and overnight care. We would have a lot who would mind children of schoolteachers so they are very flexible with working around long holidays. Childminders are diversifying all the time to meet those niche demands to sustain their business.
The childminders reported that the national average rate for a full time place with a childminder is slightly higher than last year at €151, but pay ranged from as little as €100 to €200.
The national average part-time rate remains at €5 per hour and the national average hourly rate for after-school care is also €5, a decrease from the €5.50 reported in 2009. The after-school hourly rate ranged from €3 to €7.50.
The majority of respondents (63 per cent) work for 40 hours or more per week. Of these 22 per cent work for more than 50 hours each week, an 8 per cent decrease on 2009. Many childminders work part-time, 32 per cent work less than 40 hours a week (25 per cent of these less than 35 hours per week).
More than two thirds – 69 per cent – of the childminders who completed the survey have Garda vetting, which is a 13 per cent increase on the figure reported in 2009.
The number one professional practice concern for childminders is negotiating/dealing with parents, while the second is staying up to date with changing legislation. Of the childcare aspect, 41 per cent were concerned about getting out and about with children and 37 per cent with providing a range of activities for children.
Childminders said that the most important thing to them was “being valued by parents”.
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