Free GP care for children under 12 is welcome – but we’ll still struggle
LAURA and Ross Haugh have a combined income of €100,000 but they say much of their income is eroded by costly childcare.
They have two children, six-year-old James and four-year-old Lucy.
Laura, 37, works three days a week as mum-in-residence for Mummypages.ie, a parenting community website.
Ross, 41, works full time as director of a transport company.
The total amount they spend every month is about €4,700.
That includes €2,100 a month on their mortgage repayments, €300 on petrol, €240 on health insurance, €60 on water charges, €600 on groceries – and €1,000 on childcare.
Laura said: ‘We’ll see an increase in our take-home pay from the widening of the tax bands and the reductions in the USC, but to be honest that’s all wiped out by our childcare costs.
‘At the moment we are struggling to pay after- school costs of €1,000 a month and that’s with me working part-time. The Government has moved to help parents with children in the three-to-five-year bracket, but aftercare hasn’t even been mentioned in this Budget. It’s very disappointing.
‘At the moment our childcare costs are like paying a second mortgage.
‘The Government would be wiser to increase investment in pre- school childcare under three years and afterschool enrichment programmes for parents who work.
‘This would be better than increasing the child benefit by such an insignificant amount at just €5 per month. Just €10 a month extra into our pocket is not going to make any difference to us really. Child benefit – relied on by so many low- and middle-income families – is not the method by which to increase a family’s quality of life.
‘What’s needed is a clear strategy to tackle the issues facing those looking to improve their standard of living by working outside the home – ie, quality, affordable childcare.’
She added: ‘The measure to extend children’s free GP care to all those under 12 years is welcome.
‘The increase in the minimum wage to €9.15 an hour from €8.65 will go a long way to making a real difference to families, particularly those mums who find it hard to re-enter the workforce, particularly in a part-time capacity.
‘From my point of view, this Budget is clearly trying to start to tackle the problems faced by parents and particularly working parents in this country. But we’ve still got so far to go.’