Childcare problems forcing Kildare parents to consider giving up work

NEARLY half of parents are considering giving up their employment due to the lack of available childcare places in Kilcullen, Kildare South and Labour Party TD Mark Wall.

Deputy Wall revealed the figure from a survey carried out with a local community group called Kilcullen Needs Childcare.

Deputy Wall said: “Kilcullen is a rapidly growing town, and the issue of childcare is greatly impacting many working families, and in the majority of cases these are women. We are already seeing the impact on working hours, as 47% of parents have reduced their working hours. The majority of these are women who are in jobs that are in high demand, sectors like education, healthcare, construction, and finance. The lack of childcare is also having a negative impact on the careers of these parents, as one in five have already given up their careers.

“There are over 150 children that are in need of an early years or afterschool place in Kilcullen alone, and this crisis is reflected across the whole of Kildare and in many other counties. 

"This is all going on while we have purpose-built facilities lying vacant across Kildare, and many small-to-medium sized childcare settings are struggling to breakeven.

“We need to see the State stepping into places like Kilcullen that have become a childcare desert, we need publicly funded, State-led childcare facilities set up and we need to finally recognise early years education as a vital investment in our children’s future and a key part of the education system.” 

 One parent who took part the survey said: “My son is three months old and while I’m still on maternity leave, we have not yet found a place for him when I go back to work. I have decided to take extra unpaid leave for another two months. 

"After this time, we will either have to find a private childminder and for my husband to reduce his hours or stay at home full-time and give up his career because we can’t afford a childminder full-time. We are on over ten waiting lists and have had to apply out of Kildare too.” 

 Another parent also said: “My baby is not even here yet, but already we know that we’ll have to travel outside of Kilcullen for childcare until a place opens up for our little one. It makes things much harder with work, and socially for our child as we want them to be with the kids they’ll be going to school with.”