Support services for child care including pre-natal and post-natal protection and support

Main aims of the module:

 Give basic information on public and private support services for child care

 Inform about pre-natal and post- natal arrangements for protecting and supporting women in the

workplace

 Show possibilities to have childcare support provided by your employer

Support services for child care including

pre-natal and post-natal protection and support

osceolahome.blogspot.com

MODULE 3.

 There is an increasing number of families with both parents working;

 Grandparents and relatives often cannot take the responsibility to take care of the children of working parents because they are also working;

 Families often live far apart from each other which makes support by other family members difficult;

 The European Union and many European States are working on solutions to these problems.

The importance of non-family child-care increases in in all European countries

appleton-child-care.com

Targets of Barcelona

Summit 2002 agreed by the European council:

“Member States should remove disincentives to female labour force participation and strive, taking into account the demand for childcare facilities and in line with national patterns of provision, to provide

childcare by 2010 to at least 90% of children between 3 years old and the mandatory school age and at least 33% of children under 3 years”

Source: Presidency Conclusions – Barcelona 15 and 16 March 2002 (SN 100/1/02 REV 1)

The Employment policy guidelines

(2008-2010) stated that “policies should ensure that work and family life is better coordinated, by developing childcare services and care for other dependants”

Source:

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_soc ial_policy/community_employment_policies/em0007_en.htm

unc.edu

MODULE 3.

EU directives have given attention to health and safety and support for pregnant women and mothers of new born

children:

The Council Directive 92/85/EC from 1992 introduced measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are

breastfeeding

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/employment_and_social_policy/health_hygiene_safety_at_work/c1091 4_en.htm

cf also Module 1

ILO Maternity Protection Recommendation 2000 (No. 191) concentrated on further needs for regulation:

Breastfeeding mothers

 On production of a medical certificate..., the frequency and length of breaks should be adapted to particular needs;

 Where practicable and with the agreement of the employer and the woman concerned, it should be possible to combine the time allotted for daily nursing breaks to allow a reduction of hours of work at the beginning or at the end of the working day;

 Where practicable, provision should be made for the

establishment of facilities for nursing under adequate hygienic conditions at or near the workplace.

(Source: http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?R191, 2011/28/02)

MODULE 3.

 The period which nursing breaks or reduction of daily hours of work are allowed, their

number, the duration, and the procedures for the reduction of daily hours shall be

determined by national law and practice.

Source: http://www.ilo/org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C183

ILO Maternity Protection Recommendation 2000 (No. 191) Article 10



A woman shall be provided with the right to one or more daily breaks or a daily reduction of hours of work to breastfeed her child.

ekantipur.com

 in the child’s home (babysitter, nanny, employed by the parents)

 in the home of a childminder (day mother, family daycare)

 in childcare centres

• for very small children:

daycare centres, nurseries, crèches (0-5 years )

• pre-primary education:

kindergarten, pre-primary school, nursery school, école maternelle or early childhood education centres (3 to 5/6 years)

Child care facilities can be run by the state, by charity

organisation or by private

owners. !

Main types of child care

corbisimages.com

MODULE 3.

 Promoting gender equality

 Promoting the rights and development of children

 Contributing to the national economy

 Helping to break the vicious circle of inter-generational poverty

Public childcare is often subsidised by the state but is often only offered for special age groups and for short hours.

Often parents have to pay (from small fees to large sums).

Child care should be accessible and affordable and of good quality

Benefits

for a society that provides child care accessible and affordable for families and of good quality

sunrisepreschoolchildcare.com montgomerycountymd.gov

 There is a lack of public and private child care facilities in spite of EU directives and country regulations.

 Existing facilities often do not meet the needs of working

parents (short opening hours, no meals provided, unreliable etc.)

 There are very few good quality and affordable child care offers for children under the age of three.

 In many countries public opinion sees childcare as less favourable for children’s development than the private

care of the mother and working women are considered as

“bad mothers”.

Problems

MODULE 3.

Benefits for employers:

-

-

-

Demands for action



Municipalities have to improve their childcare facilities in order to meet the needs of working parents

 Employers can step in and support their employees who need child care

onlineuniversities-weblog.com

 for the first time after birth (time of breastfeeding)

 if the public childcare offers are insufficient

 if kindergarten or school hours and working hours differ

 if the children become ill

 if there are necessary business trips and they cannot reach private arrangement

 other cases of emergency

Working parents need additional support and child care by their employers

Child care support services have to be reliable, affordable

and of good quality !!!!

MODULE 3.

Possibilities for employers to support child care

 conducting risk assessment concerning nursing mother’s safety or that of her child from her working conditions or working hours

 establishing company kindergarten (large enterprises)

 making arrangements with public or charity facilities e.g. by reserving places for their employees and negotiating discounts places (smaller enterprises)

 establishing a room for children for doing their home-work or wait for their parents to ensure after school care for older children

 providing assistance during school holidays and closing times of kindergartens (camps, short-term childcare)

 consultancy services for parents

 financial support for individual parents

Improvement of public childcare facilities

Questions for self- reflection:

 What is the situation in your town?

 How did you judge the quality of the public childcare facilities?

 How can the situation in the childcare facilities which you would like to use be improved?

Aim: to raise awareness of the trainees about the existing public childcare facilities in their town and encourage them to develop suggestions for the possible improvements to be made.

Task: Reflect on the questions below.

Duration: 30 min

MODULE 3. Practical exercises

Improvement of support for parents and child care at your work place

Questions for self- reflection:

 What is the situation at your work place concerning pregnant women and women with a new born child?

 What does your employer offer to support work-life balance and make child care easier for working parents?

 How can the situation of parents in your company be improved?

Aim: to encourage the trainees to develop suggestions how the situation at their work place could be improved .

Task: Reflect on the questions below.

Duration: 30 min.

We suggest to deepen your knowledge on the topic of the module by analysing the following case studies:











These case studies show arrangements at workplaces where employers together with employees have created good solutions for solving child

care problems of parents.

MODULE 3. Case studies of best practices

While analysing the presented cases studies, try to reflect yourself on these questions:

What is your family situation?

What is the situation in your company?

What kind of agreement you work with?

REMEMBER ….

Case Study “A business woman with a demanding work load and a mother of twins of whom one has special needs”

Aim: to raise awareness about the possibilities to reconcile childcare and busy work schedule

Task: to read the interview “A business woman with a demanding work load and a mother of twins of whom one has special needs” and reflect on the questions provided below.

Duration: 30 min.

Questions for reflection:

 Would you be able to work full-time if your child (or other family member) has special needs of care?

 What support could you get from your employer to deal with your child care situation?

 What could you expect: how could non-family care and a full-time work effect the wellbeing of your child (family dependent)?

 What could be the ways for you to balance your work and family life?

MODULE 3. Case studies on good practices

Case Study “A public voucher for baby sitting“

Aim: to raise awareness about child care services provided by public institutions and funded by the local municipality.

Task: to read the interview “A public voucher for baby-sitting” and reflect on the questions provided below.

Duration: 30 min.

Questions for reflection:

 Where could you find information about how to access child care services provided by your company or public institutions?

 How can bureaucracy hinder the access to such services?

 What are the negative aspects that an employee has to face claiming for a support from his/her company?

Case Study “Childcare by a company kindergarten”

Questions for reflection:

 Would you be interested in having a company kindergarten for your children?

 What could be the benefits for your employer to offer his staff members kindergarten within the company?

 What problems could your employer see concerning this idea?

 Are there solutions to these problems? If yes: In which way?

 What other possibilities could be found for the situation of your company?

Aim: to raise awareness about the benefit of a company kindergarten to reconcile work and family life

Task: To read the interview and reflect on the basis of the following questions Duration: 20 min.

MODULE 3. Case studies on good practices

Video “Family-friendly workplace with „mini kindergarten“

Aim: to raise awareness of the trainees about the benefit of childcare arrangement at workplace for the employees with extended working hours.

Task: view the presented video clip “Family-friendly workplace with „mini kindergarten” and reflect on the basis of the questions provided below.

Duration: 30 min.

Questions for reflection:

 Do you have a need to have childcare facilities at workplace?

 What solution could your employer find to assist you and your colleagues to reconcile work and childcare?

 What kind of childcare arrangements would you ask your employer to implement at your workplace? Why?

 Would you consider the idea of having a little kindergarten at your workplace?

Would you like to have your children around while you work?

 Do you think that having childcare facility at your workplace would assist you in your attempts to reconcile work and care for your child?

 How you could initiate the discussion with your employer regarding the implementation of measures for childcare at your workplace?

Video “FamUnDo – An innovative project to improve companies in family-friendly policies”

Questions for reflection:

 In which situations would parents need to be able to bring their children with them to work?

 Does this arrangement cause problems with respect to health and safety at work?

 What does an employer have to prepare in order to make this example useful for the employee as well as for the employer?

 Would you like to take your child to your work place in cases of

emergency? If yes: How could you convince your employer to offer this possibility?

Aim: to show the trainees the possible solutions in case of child care emergencies Task: View the video and reflect on the basis of the questions provided below.

Duration: 30 min.

MODULE 3. Next Steps

 How could you initiate a discussion with your employer suggesting to implement childcare provisions?

 How could you convince your employer of offering facilities for breastfeeding mothers?

 What could be suitable solutions for your company to assist parents with child care?

 Who could you find to support this idea?

Further questions to consider . . .

paulos.net

 European Commission’s Expert Group on Gender and Employment Issues (EGGE): The provision of childcare services. A comparative review of 30 European countries. by Janneke Plantenga and Chantal Remery, ed. by European Commission Directorate-General for

Employment, Social Affairs and Equal opportunities. 2009

 Hein, C.; Cassirer, N. (2009): Workplace solutions for childcare.

Geneva, International Labour Office, 2010

Suggestions for further self-reading

NEXT STEPS TO DO…

You have just completed this training module…

CONGRATULATIONS !

What would be your next step?

What actions are you going to take?

Don’t worry… we have got some hints for you..

what you could DO NEXT…

undergroundteacher.blogspot.com

START TO THINK ABOUT THE NEXT STEPS FOR YOU TO DO:

 Make a personal plan, set your personal goals;

 Discuss the ideas of better reconciliation of work and family life with your family members;

 Organise a discussion on reconciliation of work and family life at your workplace (use e-Handbook on DVD or published on www.family-learning.eu);

 How could you raise awareness about the family-friendly measures presented in the project at your workplace?

 Consider the possibility to discuss work-life balance problems with your employer;

 Think how you could use some of the presented good practices to show to your employer (trade union representative, etc.) as an example of family-friendly

measures;

 Think, who could support you while talking to your employer about your work-

family balance problems (representative of trade union, human resource manager, NGOs working in the field, etc.).