Childcare is a ‘nightmare’

“NIGHTMARE” childcare issues are preventing a large number of parents from being able to work full-time. A Moray Chamber of Commerce survey and personal accounts provided to The Advertiser’s sister title, The Northern Scot, have shown the scale of the problem across the area. More than 40 percent of local businesses have faced difficulties in recruiting staff due to childcare issues, while almost 30 percent have faced difficulties retaining staff.

Two Moray mothers talked about their trouble finding childcare, with one from Keith describing her experience as “a nightmare.” A doctor’s practice manager—also a grandmother—has said that problems with out-of-hours care have severely impacted them, with nearly all members of staff returning on part-time contracts after maternity/paternity leave. Eileen Rae, who lives in Elgin, has worked at Maryhill Doctor’s Practice for 35 years, with 22 of those as practice manager. The grandmother-of-one said: “Young mums that we employ are having the same struggle I had when I became a mother—finding suitable care that allows them to come back to work. Most, if not all, were full-time and are now part-time. I can't remember any coming back full-time. The practice is open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., and that requires staff to be here before 8 a.m. and sometimes after 6 p.m. Childcare facilities struggle to accommodate that. We try to be flexible with our arrangements, but trying to cover it staffing-wise can be tricky.”

Moray Chamber surveyed 22 businesses of all sizes on the issue. In addition to recruitment and retention struggles, a total of 55 percent of businesses have been required to implement new policies to support working parents. A total of 40 percent are interested in being part of a community initiative to improve childcare solutions. The numbers don’t shock Eileen. She added: “This probably gives a sense of how things are for working parents. It’s a difficult challenge to come back to work and make it worthwhile.”

Moray Chamber’s CEO, Sarah Medcraf, is a mother of two children—seven-year-old Jacob and three-year-old Georgie. While keen to express how lucky she has been to have worked for a “family-focused” board during both of her pregnancies, Sarah knows others in Moray are not so fortunate. She hopes that solutions can be found and that a key part of Moray’s workforce can return. “We need employers to be transparent and open, whether that’s at the job vacancy or interview stage, or through an employee handbook,” she explained. “We want flexible, family-friendly policies that will increase the likelihood of parents returning to the workforce and help retain talent. We want to introduce some form of childcare app—or webpage—to help people find the childcare options available to them.”

Sarah emphasized that there is a good variety of early learning settings in Moray, but waiting lists—especially for people arriving in the area with, for example, the RAF—can be daunting. She added: “Moray has a great variety with outdoor, council, holiday clubs, and private nurseries. However, it's quite difficult as a parent to navigate what's available, and also there is the waiting time. The tricky thing is coming into the area. With both of my children, as soon as I had my 12-week scan, I was putting them on a waiting list for nursery because they are so long. We appreciate that waiting lists fluctuate throughout the year, but if you are coming into the area, how are you going to get your child into childcare—and you have left your family support network?”

A Forres mother of two, who will remain anonymous, gave an account of her childcare troubles. She said: “As a parent of a 4-year-old about to start school and a nine-week-old who will start nursery later this year, the lack of 0-2 care in Forres is ridiculous considering the size of the town. The recent influx of families is creating a real need for proper wraparound childcare, particularly as flexible work-from-home jobs in Moray are a rarity rather than the norm. I am also surprised at the lack of breakfast, after-school, or homework clubs at both primary and secondary schools.”

A Keith mother, who wished to remain anonymous, added: “I'm a single working parent, and I'd just like to say that childcare is a nightmare. I have two children, aged 10 and seven. My youngest has autism. I have managed to get a childminder for the morning, but no such luck for the afternoon, so my mother, who is disabled, collects the children for me three days a week.”