Equality Commission presses Stormont for better childcare provision

By Rebecca Black, PA

The Equality Commission has called for action to ensure all parents can access affordable, good quality childcare.

The body said 20% of childcare facilities have not reopened since closing at the start of the lockdown earlier this year.

The commission’s Discrimination Advice Line has taken calls from parents struggling to balance the demands of work and childcare, with examples of some employers “responding well” and accommodating flexible working.

However, others have been threatened with redundancy if they do not come into the workplace, according to the Equality Commission.

The commission described good childcare provision as “key to increasing women’s economic participation and women’s independence and in promoting equality between men and women”.

Chief commissioner Geraldine McGahey said there seems to be “an increasing demand but a dwindling pool” of childcare providers.

Chief commissioner Geraldine McGahey

She has urged Education Minister Peter Weir to act.

“Whilst of course we recognise the particular problems posed by the pandemic and that a revised childcare strategy will require Executive approval and significant new and sustained funding, it is also the case that the response to the Covid-19 crisis has added to, not diminished, the need for appropriate, accessible and affordable childcare provision,” she said.

“It is our view that better childcare provision is fundamental to both supporting the workforce to deliver economic recovery and maximising economic participation, and we need it sooner rather than later.”