Iona Institute has called for more childcare services to be provided for parents who wish to work part-time.
This comes after an international survey has shown that 61% of women would prefer to work part-time if given the chance.
“For people who are balancing home duties with part time work often, it’s the lower paid jobs that prove to be more flexible were not good as a society at facilitating the balance with family life and work life,” said Brendan Conroy, who is on the board of the Iona Institute and himself is a stay at home dad.
Survey
He noted that the international survey was backed up by Irish data. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2019 showed that more than twice as many women as men are working part-time. Of these part-time working women 79% did not regard themselves as underemployed.
The Global Family and Gender Survey (GFGS) looks at family trends and attitudes in 11 different countries, including Ireland. It surveyed 2,500 Irish people aged 18-50 in 2018, among of which 1,253 are parents. The survey’s findings are being released in stages and it was overseen by the Institute for Family Studies in the United States.
Brendan said that government policy does not reflect Irish parents value home over work. “This would seem to be confirmed by the Government’s preference for day-care over other types of child-care, especially remaining home with a child, and also by the continuing policy of tax individualisation which discriminates against couples where one stays at home in favour of couples where both go out to work.”
He said he would like to see initiative into supports for relatives to mind children.