![Workplace Pension Icon](https://www.workingmums.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/hch-icn-workplace-pension-320x168.png)
Why pension planning now is crucial to financial security in retirement
We're nearing the end of Pension Awareness Week which has been the perfect moment to...read more
Summer’s here and so are the worries about holiday childcare.
It’s the summer holidays and while the kids may welcome a break, it’s a long one and, in a cost of living crisis, an expensive one for parents who may find the prospect of funding the next five weeks plus school uniform costs to cover growth spurts pushes them that bit closer to – or over – the edge.
There will be some financial help and free meals on offer for those households on the lowest incomes, but any parent knows that almost every child-related activity is costly, and more so this year. Even going to a free activity with a packed lunch means spending on transport. It’s very easy to rack up the costs even when you are trying to keep a tight hold on your budget. But going out, or changing scenery, is one way to burn up the nervous energy of young people. When sibling rivalry is at its height, even a short walk round the block can act as a pressure release valve.
Then there is factoring in work. We know from many past surveys that a lot of parents leave summer holiday cover until the last minute, piecing together a patchwork of ‘solutions’ – mainly based on family and friends. Some take unpaid leave; some leave their jobs over the summer; some do tag teaming with a partner.
We know too that demand for holiday schemes is linked to cost and the higher the costs go – even if rises have kept below inflation on average this year with providers barely managing – the more likely parents are to look for alternatives or to have to take unpaid leave or just plan leave work over the summer. Particularly those with children with special needs for whom holiday childcare is very scarce.
Alternatives to paid holiday childcare are often fraught with stress – what if an informal playdate arrangement breaks down at the last minute? What if you feel you have no alternative but to leave your child at home alone or with their siblings? This shouldn’t, of course, happen and if summer schemes were affordable, covered all age groups and local maybe it wouldn’t. I’ve certainly used some primary school-based schemes in the past which catered to all interests and ages, but that was before I moved to a village where there are only distant schemes aimed at certain age groups and usually run between 10am and 2pm, meaning you spend the best part of the day dropping people off [at different schemes] and picking them up.
As a system, it doesn’t work because as a country we simply don’t value supporting parents. We tend to see children as a lifestyle choice and a bit of a luxury. Yet here we are with workforce shortages and older people with few people to care for them. In short, everyone suffers if we don’t invest in the young.