There is a letter making news today from a long day care centre who has requested “non-working” parents pick their children up by 4pm while working parents are allowed to pick their children up by 6pm.
According to the letter – which was sourced from a private Facebook group by Kidspot and made the rounds of various online sites and morning talk shows – the request came after “staff have had to stay back” due to “non-working parents not respecting the 4pm pick-up”.
The letter reads: “The staff have families and commitments that they need to attend to just like you and having to cancel or make other arrangement at the last minute due to having to keep our staff: child ratios legal.”
“Non-working” parents are then advised if they do not pick up their child by 4pm a late fee will be applied to their account to “cover the costs for the overtime that I have to pay staff”.
It’s caused a lot of debate with many saying the letter fans the flames of the stay-at-home mum versus the working mum war, while others saying that all parents should be treated equal if they are paying the same amount.
Comments on social media like: “I don’t understand why your kids go to daycare if you are a stay at home mum. ..I think kids these days spend too much time in daycare and not enough time at home” were plentiful.
Along with “If you’re putting your child in at 6am and then picking them up at 6pm and all you’re doing is sitting at home all day… then that’s not right. 8am – 4pm should be the maximum… But if a time limit were to be imposed on nonworking parents then the fees should also reflect this. They should be paying less than the working parents who need 6am-6pm care.”
Top Comments
This article perpetuates the negative stigma which is applied to being a SAHM, suggesting that a stay at home parent isn't working hard enough if they choose to pay a centre for one or two days a week where they have time to themselves. Also, as others have said, you can't assume to know what happens in anyone else's day to day life. The letter is a result of poor planning and management on the centre's part. Until childcare centres change their priority access guidelines to include 'working parents' - and adjust their fees accordingly, (how many centres offer half days or let you pay an hourly rate??) - then guess what, anyone who pays for long daycare is entitled to a full day.
As a SAHM myself, to be honest having to pick the children up early would not bother me and I understand why it is necessary. What probably would annoy me is if I had to pay the same fee for a reduced time - do we know if the fees are different or if perhaps the rostering time is different?