Nine of 10 parents happy with their childcare set-up

NINE out of 10 parents are satisfied with their current childcare arrangements with six out of 10 saying they are very satisfied.

This high satisfaction rating comes despite complaints about the lack of Government investment in childcare and its expense.

Survey results reveal couples, where one parent stays at home full time, are the most content - two out of every three of them are “very satisfied.”

But the bulk of parents who work outside the home don’t appear to be unhappy with their childcare situation either - 57% of full-time working parents, and 53% of part-time working parents, say they are “very satisfied.”

The highest levels of dissatisfaction are with crèches, with 15% of parents with crèche-going children saying that they are not satisfied with their childcare arrangements. This compares to 8% of parents with children at childminders.

Nine per cent of working mothers, both full and part time, say they aren’t happy with their childcare arrangement. Eight per cent of stay-at-home mothers agree which would suggest that they would like to work outside the home.

In Dublin, parents are least happy with their childcare option with just over half saying they are very happy with their childcare arrangements compared to two-thirds in Munster and Connacht and Ulster.

Out of the 8% of all parents across the country who aren’t happy with their childcare situation, nearly half of these said it was because of cost, while another quarter said that they’d rather be working than staying at home.