Affordable Child Care - It is Mantalk & as important as tax

CDfm

It always amazes me when I see guys post on guy issues that this is never mentioned.

The OECD think its a huge issue.

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/47/34431749.pdf

When my kids were little it was a huge issue finding an affordable and good childminder -especially one where you didnt have to rush back too.

Nobody told me guys didn't get involved in this stuff and living in the UK there were all kinds of ways you could do it.A local ladies church group had a service if you were late even where I lived.

In Ireland there is zip.

So for new parents along with mortgage/rent, car childcare is the biggest expense. Now I often see threads saying I cant go to football practice because yada yada yada.

But downsizing down to one income from two is often dictated by childcare availability.

Friends of mine in Belgium (from Ireland) are amazed at this and its the guys not the girls who comment. I reckon its the shock of being able to go to work.

I often post that its a huge issue that we spend so much on welfare and lone parents and really we need childcare as a priority. Single and seperated parents need it too.

So tell me I am wrong -I don't care but you would want to have a very good argument to convince me.

tbh

CDfm wrote: »

So tell me I am wrong

I can't, I don't know what you're saying Childcare is too expensive?

CDfm

Its very simple Ireland has some of the highest Childcare costs in Europe

I cant see why that would be if you want society to change and women to work and men to have equal rights its fairly esssential you do the childcare thing and do it right

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/childcare-costs-hit-15600-74310.html

Friday October 20 2006


PARENTS pay up to €15,600 a year to cover the childcare costs of just one child - and a quarter of that goes straight back to the government in taxes. Families are forking out an average of €160 per week per child to cover the costs of private creche care and this rises to €180 for babies, a new survey by the National Children's Nurseries Association reveals.
One Cork creche had the highest rates at a staggering €300 per week, which would add up to €15,600 per annum before tax, while a creche in Kildare charged €285 per week.
However, in general it was Dublin parents who were the hardest hit, with average costs for babycare exceeding €210 per week in many southside areas.
That quickly adds up to over €10,000 per year - and because these costs have to be met out of income that has already been taxed, it means parents on the higher tax band would have to earn up to €18,500 to meet the bill for just one child.
Community-run childcare places were substantially cheaper at an average of €81 per child per week or €94 for a baby, but there were only 100 of them compared to 300 private creches.
Workplace creche costs came halfway between those in private and community facilities but there were only a dozen of them nationwide.
The findings confirm a recent OECD finding that Ireland has the highest childcare costs in Europe, said NCNA Director of Services Catherine Bond.

How can you get mothers active and change the culture in society from welfare based to performance and work based if you do not facilitate a proper childcare as a priority.

Other countries do it so why cant we.

It affects men in several ways as if the cost is lower you have more disposable income at home and if you are divorced or seperated it gives you an option of taking on your kidsif you work.

So yes we should be as interested in childcare as we are about sex, the price of a pint and who wins the football.

We are getting homosexual civil partnerships and huge changes to legal definitions of families but no childcare.

So as Men we can whinge all we like but supporting changes is the childcare system is probably as great a benefit to men as women.

CDfm

A recent study - some good references off it.

Female Labor Supply and Divorce:
New Evidence from Ireland

http://ftp.iza.org/dp4959.pdf