Employees ‘are struggling to juggle work with childcare’

Posted 13/07/2010

New research has found that many working parents are struggling to find childcare which will allow them to work as normal during school holidays.

A study by the charity Daycare Trust found that 76 of the 202 Family Information Services in the UK had reported parents complaining about a lack of available care.

Furthermore, when daycare was available, it was revealed that working parents face a ‘postcode lottery’ for it, with large variations in the cost of a week’s childcare across different regions.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Daycare Trust, criticised the ‘gaping hole’ in childcare provision and told BBC News the recent changes made to tax credits are another ‘bad move’.

‘If the government is serious about getting parents into employment, then it must take a comprehensive approach to investing in more holiday and wrap-around childcare,’ she insisted.

Anyone in the UK with a child under the age of 16 has the right to ask their employer for flexible working, while time off must be granted to deal with emergencies involving dependents.