Workingmums.co.uk - connecting mums and employers

Quite apart from the availability of childcare, is the issue of quality of care. Only recently, a child died after becoming entangled on the cord of a bag after being left unattended for 20 minutes in a private nursery. Childcare of school age children is a hugely complex issue. Where I live there is a higher than average rate of unemployment therefore, excellent facilities like Breakfast Clubs and After School clubs aren't used by enough people to make them self-financing. It might only be a handful of people who use them but to those handful they are absolutely essential.

Jan Barker  |  Report this comment

I felt I had to return to work after my maternity allowance stopped as I was unemployed and the only benefits I was aware of was job seekers allowance, which you are only allowed to claim if you are looking for work. I would have ideally liked a little more time with my baby. I heard on the radio today that the government will pay benefits to single parents until the child is 12! I doubt this is also applicable if you have a partner as I do. I think this will be a necessary facility for some people. I do enjoy working now, part-time, but I have to earn a certain amount to make it worth my while with the cost of nursery. Child tax credit has helped a little, but it's not really enough.

Kirsti Gardner  |  Report this comment

I think the cost of childcare is also shaping the spacing out of our children - if we want more than one. I know (for example) that I could never have afforded putting two children into nursery at the same time, and I am sure that I am not alone in feeling this. So from a monetary point of view waiting until one child is in school is a good idea - but then of course you have a whole host of new challenges; the length of the school day, managing to pick two kids up from separate places after work and coping with school holidays. I don't know how some mums manage!

Annika Williams  |  Report this comment

I've been lucky in that I've worked from home since before my child was born, so she came into a 'working' enviroment .. it's been great (although stressful at times when she was younger) but has allowed her to come home directly from school etc and at the same time she has had to 'mix it' with my work... however being self employed does make the whole taxation issue a bit harder .. no sick pay, no holiday pay .. so there's plus points and minus's!!

Chris Castell  |  Report this comment

I think the answer is to make employers more responsible for providing good flexible working arrangements. I would dearly love to be a stay at home mum but can't afford to do that - like many families mine relies on two salaries. I have encountered problem after problem trying to find a part time role which still pays enough to live on and pay a childminder. And yet I know that there are plenty of jobs out there which could be done just as proficiently as a part time or job share role. The Government should offer employers an incentive to provide more flexibility in the workplace - offering the right to part time working when your child is under 5 is okay but it's when they go to school that you often need it more!

Yvonne Coombes  |  Report this comment

I have the same problem. I am currently on maternity leave. My daughter is only 11 weeks old and I cannot bear the thought of leaving her with a childminder. Unfortunately, I have to go back to work in April as our mortgage has to be paid! I wish that employers would make it easier for working mothers to return to work as well as the Government. If more companies thought of setting up a creche at work for working Mums, then we would have peace of mind that our children were in the same building as us and that we could (hopefully) have a break in the morning to feed our children (if they are still babies) or spend a precious hour with them at lunchtime. I am not sure how other members of staff would feel about it though but as long as they had the same amount of breaks. I am looking for a job working from home but these are few and far between. I would love to earn a "proper salary" again but feel that I am torn in two.

Anonymous  |  Report this comment

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Lucy Pitt  |  Report this comment

I am really fed up, I love being at home with my little boy, but I would also like a lfe outside this. So I got a job in the evenings thinking this would be perfect. I work 17.30- 01.30 Monday - Sunday with two days of on a rota schedule. Thsi was working fine when I started but looking after y son alday then going to do a fulltime job started to take its toll and my health as started to suffer and due to this have had to have quite a significant time of work ill which I hate but doctor says no choice. My work have not been supported at all (they say they are) but when you go to meetings they are the busines can not sustain this kind of absence and are looking for me to resign. I dont want to as the money is good and looking around for daytime work would mean my 20month would go into childcare and that would cost me at least 50% of my full time wage, and I cant afford this. I personally beleiev that the goverment think that all us women are on £25,000 per year but there are woment out there that only earn £16,000 and then there husbands earn ontop of that a reasonable wage, and have huge financial obligations also. So the goverment wont help. In the USA they have creche's in the workplace why cant we. I can't see light at the end of the tunnel for me but just thought i would let this out and hope that someone can Identify with me so I know I am not alone, please reply and maybe we could get together and have a moan.

Karen Wilson  |  Report this comment

I agree. Thank you.

Big Test  |  Report this comment

I'm trying to work at home too, and find it terribly difficult to exercise... I've just found this, which I thought might help some others, it's been such a pain to loose the post-pregnancy weight and get back in shape! www.virtualgym.tv It really is a fab new site, and I think I'm one of the first to start using it - at last they bring the gym to me! (if only they brought chocolate too)....

Amanda Davis  |  Report this comment

I have to say i agree it is so hard to work and pay for child care, it's not so bad during term time but in the holidays???!!!! I have just had to hand over £90 of my £207 weekly wage to kids club and as the new tax year has just started tax credits have taken £50 a week off me!!!!! I also feel I don't see the benefit of the childcare element as it's just part of what I get if it went directly to my child care provider and I had less to pay I think psycologically I would feel the benefit a bit more

Donna Eade  |  Report this comment