The Juggle for UK Parents This Summer: Balancing Work, Enjoying Holidays & Managing Childcare Challenges

For many of us in the UK (and the wider world), the school summer holidays come with many challenges. The financial burden of magicing up six long weeks of childcare:? the wrangling of grandparents, neighbours, friends;? the meticulous diary planning. Not to mention the accompanying guilt of having to work , whilst trying to keep kids occupied, fed and off screens. The cost of? camps and childcare vary wildly across the country, with the average amount per day being around ￡25 and much, much more in some areas.

A 2023 study by the charity Coram Family and Childcare found it cost an average of ￡943 per child to pay for provision over the holiday.?

It will come as no surprise that the majority of the burden of childcare falls to women.?

Key findings from The Fawcett Society show that:?

• One in ten working mothers quit jobs due to childcare pressures?
• Two fifths of working mothers have turned down a promotion due to childcare pressures?
• Working mothers are 1.4 times more likely to feel the financial burden of childcare costs compared to working fathers?
• Only a third (31%) of working mothers have access to the flexible working arrangements that they need
• 85% of working mothers struggle to find a job that can accommodate their childcare needs

Let’s not forget we are also reverberating from the cost of living situation, which although is improving, is still making itself felt financially.?Recent research from the charity Action for Children found that 51% of parents said that a holiday is out of their financial reach, while 52% said they can't afford even a short break or activities for their children this summer.?

Over half of the respondents (55%) were concerned they wouldn't be able to spend as much time together as a family due to work commitments, and over a quarter (27%) reported they plan to take time off work as unpaid leave or take time off sick to provide childcare.? Sadly, a further 7% reported they may even have to quit their job to look after their children this summer.

Is hybrid helping?

For many, the post-pandemic impact on normalising remote and hybrid working has eased the pressure on parents who are lucky enough to have access to it, helping them achieve a better blend of work and home life.?

As Christine Armstrong ,Researcher into the future of work and author of ‘The Mother of All Jobs’, said at the Women in Work Summit last year:

“Covid has given us the most incredible opportunity to reset work, which was designed for the breadwinner model where daddy was working and mummy was at home...now we can save ourselves two hours a day travelling, do a really good job, come into the office maybe two or three days a week and do some networking.”

Whilst flexible working does offer some hope for working parents, many have expressed a hidden fear around ‘flexibility’ actually setting women back - more housework, more childcare, and less time with senior managers. Debbie Wosskow, OBE expressed her concerns at last year’s Summit, arguing:

“I’m extremely worried that we lose our place in the room, that we lose our visibility and we lose being part of a conversation that becomes ever more male dominated”?

However, even if?flexible working in all its forms is the only solution, it’s still not available to all, especially those who are not office based. If you add to this the eye watering cost of childcare, having a job and being a parent often seem completely incompatible.?

Away goes the halcyon dreams of endless summers….

So it’s safe to say, it’s not a pretty picture.?Wales even entertained the idea of shortening the school summer holidays from six weeks to four weeks (ultimately, these plans were shelved due to divided public opinion). But it went as far as progressing through a public consultation: the biggest ever on record.

It seems we are all frantically looking for solutions.?

What’s the answer?

It’s definitely NOT “one size fits all”. For some, flexible working is a beautiful thing; for others, job shares work best and for single mums (or dads), the situation gets even more complicated, with grandparents being a good option. For many, it’s a juggling act of all of the above and more.?

Can we get even more innovative though? The new Labour Government has promised to review the 'parental leave system' within its first twelve months in power, which hopefully includes maternity, paternity, shared parental leave in all its manifestations.?

But the innovation award - for now - has to go to Sweden….

Ever the forward-thinking country?(it was the first country to get rid of gender-specific national paid parental leave and offer the benefits to fathers as well),?Sweden, which has a similar employment rate to the UK,?runs an income-linked kollo (camp) scheme with a formal application process in February for children in grades 1-9.

Plus, just recently announced, Swedish grandparents became eligible for paid parental leave after the country enacted a trailblazing new law to extend childcare benefits beyond a child’s immediate family.

Also at its residential farm camps, which cost roughly between ￡0 and ￡28 per day, depending on family income, kids can try fishing, drama, and sports, as well as help out with chores, including cooking and cleaning.?

Who wouldn’t want to try that??

Be part of the conversation and help push support for working parents up the agenda.

Join us at this year’s Women in Work Summit, 26th September 2024, Kings Place London.

Register today and save 15% with advance booking

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