The grant is a man’s solution to a problem that affects women
Ruth Buchanan told us on Saturday why she supports the controversial Granny Grant – but Thelma Byrne, who campaigned 24 years ago for affordable childcare, says it won’t help mothers
Dubliner Thelma Byrne and her husband Ted currently mind their 15-month-old grandson Jake full-time. Both are retired and in their early 60s. They mind Jake in his own home five days a week. Back in 1994, Thelma saw first-hand how a lack of affordable childcare was holding women back and she says the problem remains — and the Granny Grant won’t change this.
WHEN I heard about Shane Ross’ proposal, I instinctively thought it was the wrong solution. To be honest, it’s exactly something a man would suggest. It’s a man’s solution to — and I hate saying this — a woman’s problem.
And let’s cut to the chase: childcare is still largely a woman’s problem.
I’m fully against the idea of a grant. It’s like putting a sticking plaster on gangrene. What we actaully need is affordable childcare provided by the State, not this meaningless gesture to grandparents.
After all, what use is ten hours a week to any working parent? Most parents are out of the house for ten hours a day. Ten hours’ childcare a week is no use to anyone.
In 1994, I started managing a community employment scheme in Cheeverstown, Dublin, upskilling young women to get them back into the workplace. Lack of childcare was the rotten core of all their problems. They couldn’t go to training because there was no one to mind their children, day or night.
A group of supervisors recognised the overwhelming need for affordable childcare if women were to be able to return to the workplace. We studied the childcare model used in Norway and oh my word, it was the stuff of dreams.
We campaigned but to no good, and to this day, it hasn’t gotten any better. A few crumbs have been thrown via free pre-school places but in general it’s pathetic. I firmly believe women will never be in control of their own lives unless they feel secure in the care available to their children.
BEFORE our grandson was born, we had no intention of minding a grandchild. We both worked hard all our lives — Ted worked shifts for many years and I only retired two years ago as a special needs assistant working with very challenging children. We also go to Spain regularly.
For most of the year, Jake is minded by a relative of our daughter’s partner who has young children of her own. It’s great because it means he’s being reared with a family, and not in crèche. I don’t really like the idea of crèches.
Our daughter pays an affordable amount each week. It’s ideal and she knows how lucky she is. She and her partner just bought a house and are saving to get married next year so things are tight. If they had to pay for a crèche every month they would manage it — and what choice would they have but to manage it?
We didn’t think twice about saying we’d be first reserves if there was any problem. This summer, Jake’s minder has de-camped to Wexford for two months and there was no one else to look after him — so we said we would.
We wanted to mind him in his own home as it’s fully baby proofed. So every morning the alarm goes off before 7am, we leave the house at 7.30am, get to our daughter’s house at 7.45am and she leaves at 8am. Between 8am and 5.30 or 6pm, we’re working.
Jake naps for up to two hours in the morning so I do some housework to give my daughter a bit of a break — changing bed linen, mopping the floors, that kind of thing.
My husband jokes that the union in this job is awful, and that’s he’s having to negotiate for breaks. It’s lighthearted of course, but truthfully, it’s exhausting for both of us. We love Jake to the moon and back but it’s very hard work. You can’t take your eye off an energetic 15-month-old child for a minute, even in his own home, which is very safe.
Your time is not your own. It’s like being back in full-time work and we’re effectively running two houses. We’re back at square one to when we had babies ourselves. We’ve surrendered our well-earned retirement to return to where we started.
People might jump on the grant idea, it might be the carrot they’re looking for or they might think this gesture is the first step to something better. But there are so many issues with it. For a start, the amount being offered is pathetic. Our daughter is paying us the same amount that she pays her childminder but we’re keeping it to give to her for spending money when they go on holidays in September. This is not about about money for us.
We’re minding Jake for a number of reasons — so that he doesn’t have to go from a family scenario to a crèche, which we don’t think would be good for him, and also it’s our way of doing something for our family.
I think a grant will put grandparents under even more pressure to mind grandchildren. They might think, I’m getting paid so I’d better do it, or at least I’m getting paid something so I’ll keep doing it.
Then there’s the question of tax. I don’t believe the Government will allow grandparents to earn this money without taxing us on it and that opens up a whole host of other issues relating to retired people’s income.
And if grandparents are being paid to look after grandchildren, will crèches — which have high insurance costs and hygiene standards — just stand by while grandparents get paid without needing to have those standards?
The answer, 24 years after I first campaigned, is still affordable State childcare. Having worked as an SNA, I know that many schools have empty classrooms. Instead of sticking a plaster on the childcare issue, the Government could run childcare services in schools so that children transition easily from pre-school through to primary and secondary school.
I have a friend who’s a principal in St Thomas’ School in Tallaght and they have a great system with early breakfast clubs. The State could and should look at a smimilar model for a system of affordable childcare.
We don’t mind looking after Jake but in the overall scheme of things it shouldn’t be happening. Our daughter should have access to a continuous affordable service that she can use all year round.’