Ajit* like most people in London leaves his house at the crack of dawn to endure a forty-five minute drudged tube ride to work. His wife, Anita* stays back home to take care of their 5-year-old child. Ajit* has no alternative but to slave off at his 9-6 job because of the heavy mortgage that is due for his 2-bedroom flat in North London. Anita unfortunately cannot go out and work owing to the high cost of putting their child into Childcare facilities and travel cost that will override her daily minimum wages.
But Ajit and Anita are not the only couple struggling through finding the right balance between work and parent-hood. Most working Asian couples in the UK face a similar harrowing task.
Career-break and job-relocation
Rumia Mukherjee and her husband are software analysts. Mother of two children aged 4 and 9-year-old, Rumia's work space was previously based in London. However, following the birth of her younger child, she had to take a break. And now, she has re-located to a job that is closer to home in Milton Keyes.
“Most mums feel it is better to stay at home. When I had the second one (child), even I took a break from work!” she said matter-of-fact.
Depending upon the kind of private nursery, the prices vary from anywhere between £750-£1000 per month excluding the cost of holidays wherein the nurseries charge somewhere between £40-£50 a day. While women have the relief of receiving maternity pay, childcare is a financial luxury commodity that not all parents can afford.
“After the maternity pay cover, if you have to send your two kids to a nursery and a school, along with the travel expenses in London and your other daily needs, you can't really afford [childcare] unless you are doing a standard job.” said Rumia.
The rising trend of working women leaving their jobs owing to their responsibilities to their children resulted in the Government launching two new childcare schemes in 2017 namely- “30-hours free childcare” and “Tax-Free Childcare”.
30-hours free childcare
According to this scheme, the government has set the following conditions for the parent and their partner (if they have one) to meet:
- In work or getting parental leave, sick leave or annual leave
- Each earning at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week
- Not earning more than £100,000 per year.
However, this '30-hours free childcare” is applicable to children between 2-4 years-old. According to the “Childcare” report released by the House of Commons for 2017-2019 session, childcare support helps in an increase in the employment rates for women. The IFS updated this research in 2016 in its report “Does free childcare help parents work?”, and it found “no evidence that the work patterns of mothers with younger children, or those of fathers, were affected [...] as their children moved from being entitled to a free part-time nursery place (offering 15 hours of free childcare per week) to a full-time place at primary school (which effectively offers parents 30–35 hours of free childcare per week)”. And Rumia adds to that theory.
“That is there [30 hours free childcare], but you are spending thousands and that is applicable only to the little one and definitely 30 hours of free childcare is helpful but in the big picture, overall it is still very expensive. At the moment childcare costs me around 1000£ per month.”
Currently based in Milton Keynes Rumia had to sacrifice with her career as her maternal responsibilities over-shadowed her work commitments and she said-
“Of course I had to compromise at my new job both in terms of the salary because the pay in Central London is higher and also work-wise as it was a better opportunity. I am not sure if I am happy with my decision to quit the previous job but it was the only that I can manage my children and my career. I don't really have an alternative.”
Long queues and admissions
Chandni Priya, has a 5-year-old child and works as an HR for an international FMCG company. Previously, a resident in the Isle of Dogs, commuting to her office in Bank was not her only hassle. The biggest problem was getting her child into the only good nursery in her locality.
“Most of the times the common problem is getting your child in the nursery there is usually a long waiting list because there are more kids than they can accommodate.”
But the problem revolves not just around private nurseries. It extends to admitting children in private schools where they have more number of holidays than state schools. This makes sending children for after-school vocational classes or even term-break camps an expensive affair.
“It works depending on the school's convenience and the availability of young volunteers. For example sometimes these camps are organised for two weeks in a row during the term breaks and sometimes it is only for a week. So what about the remaining holidays, we have to think of something else then at last moment!”
But like Rumia, even Chandni had to quit her previous job despite her husband's assistance. It only highlights the role that a company has to play in ensuring flexibility to working mothers and Chandani said-
“The work atmosphere there was very target driven with a sales related outlook so it used to be very difficult to manage my work hours and at the same time pick-up and drop-my child off to nursery so it was one of the factors why I quit my previous jobs!”
Work division and flexible hours
Deepa Sugathan and her husband are both solicitors and parents to a 5-year-old. And they face similar problems of bringing up their child but unlike other working moms, Deepa did not give up her career to look after her child-
“We have our own business so it helped me in having flexible working hours. Also, me and my husband split up our schedules and made sure that one of us is always around to look after the child.”
But while Deepa may have the luxury of her own business, Vidya Ram a London-based journalist doesn't enjoy the same privilege. But that hasn't deteriorated or hindered Vidya's career and she said-
“The life of a journalist doesn't really offer flexible hours and it is mostly an erratic work schedule. But in the #MeToo era, I want my children to learn how important it is to earn your own and be independent in life. I want them to learn from me how to manage both professional and personal lives so I haven't really ever considered giving up on my job”
