‘Babies and bosses hold key to childcare crisis’

BABIES and bosses — not the most natural combination, but one which will have to become far more compatible if we are to sort out our childcare crisis.

And help is at hand next month at a special conference aimed at giving employers some valuable tips on how to become more childcare friendly. The Babies and Bosses conference on March 2 will focus on how employers can help their employees juggle their work and family life. And top employers who have implemented successful childcare policies will be passing on practical tips.

The Work and Life conference is being organised by the Dublin Childcare Committee set up by the Government to improve the number and quality of childcare places in the region. Conference chairman Neil Brown said a recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey prompted the event.

“This survey on babies and bosses found that the Irish workplace had not changed in the past 15 years to accommodate the working families, and the careers of many women and men had been hampered by the serious lack of childcare.”

Among the speakers at the conference will be INTEL human resources director Ray Gammel who will outline how that company's successful childcare policy helped improve their overall output and performance.

INTEL has an in-house childcare co-ordinator who offers advice and help to all employees looking for proper childcare. This includes finding them a crèche or child minder within their area. The company found that once they had sorted out childcare for employees they tended to be more loyal, more productive and less likely to be absent from work. “This had a cost benefit for that industry and workers also tend to stay with companies that were more child friendly,” said Mr Brown.

However, employers are just one part of the childcare jigsaw and both the Government and parents also have a responsibility, Mr Brown added.

Children's Minister Brian Lenihan, who will be a keynote speaker at the conference to be held in the Four Seasons Hotel on March 2, said: “Childcare is a vital part of our social infrastructure and I certainly would not mind paying 1% more in tax if it was to guarantee me proper a proper service.”