It wasn’t my finest hour – walking into the school office and crying over the breakfast club waiting list. But as a single mum to three young boys, working without proper childcare was becoming impossible.
Alice and I may live in different towns, but we are both at the mercy of a system designed for couples. While an imbalance in caring responsibilities continues in many two-parent families, in the homes of single mums, there’s no balancing to be had. Just a mad juggle between caring, earning and nursery runs.
Of course, it’s not surprising I struggled to find childcare when data from Coram Family and Childcare reveals that only 35% of local authorities have enough places for under twos. Wraparound care is even worse; only 14% of local authorities report sufficient places for 5-to-11-year-olds. This figure drops to a mere 6% for children with disabilities; a figure Rachel*, a single mother to a four-year-old child with additional needs, is only too aware of.