I have spent the last week pondering the issue of childcare in Australia.
I shared a post – Australia’s childcare vs the rest of the world – on Bokbo’s Facebook page last week. The post compared childcare arrangements from more advanced countries of France, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong and Germany where free childcare is a legal right and parents can sue the government if no childcare place is available.
These countries’ governments are responsible for delivering childcare services, whereas Australia’s childcare needs are primarily met by private centres that need to make a profit. There are some not-for-profit and family day care options, but the costs are much the same and can be just as difficult to get into.
But there is a third option, and it’s one that is growing in popularity. There is an increase in multigenerational families living together.
Living with parents
I hear you. Even if you have a great relationship with your parents – or your in-laws – living together can be a frightening thought. I can speak from experience. I did it, with one baby boy and a husband in tow.
We parked a rented bus fitted out like a mobile home on the very wide verge in front of my parents’ house (it was a rural area with no neighbours to upset). We lived in the bus while building an extension onto my parents’ house – with a door between the two households.
Just before the birth of our second son we moved into our new – attached – home with very few strings attached.
Childcare on tap
I was a stay-at-home mum during the day and worked in hospitality in the evenings and weekends. My husband was on deck to look after the boys a lot of the time, but when our shifts clashed my parents were on board. We had childcare on tap!
It was comforting to know that the boys were with people they knew and that their routines weren’t disrupted.
It was a practical solution to a financial problem, and it later enabled me to re-enter the workforce without the trauma other mums experience leaving children in a centre.
Cultural norms, values, and integration into the local community throughout the day were all positive benefits of having the children cared for by their grandparents.
But… yes, there was a big but.
Personal privacy
Even though we had a lock on the door between the two households, the proximity of parents was far too close – physically and psychologically.
My mother would often walk in when least expected and my parents always knew when my husband and I weren’t getting along.
They knew who our friends were, where we were going, and what we were doing. There was no personal privacy.
As a young couple who had lived independently and long distances away from family, surrendering our personal privacy was too great a cost.
Time moves on
Childcare is an increasing problem. Many more women remain in the workforce following the birth of children. Housing costs, higher standard of living and the availability of credit have all contributed to the two-income family being the accepted norm.
Multigenerational families living together to combat financial pressure and satisfy caring arrangements are becoming more popular. I take heart in knowing that granny flats or two separate dwellings on one block of land are now being allowed in some areas. There are, of course, legal and financial implications to consider. This may help avert the pitfalls I experienced of co-joined housing.
I think of this solution as a reinvention of the ideals of living in communes or tribes, where responsibility for raising children is a shared. The idea that it takes a village to raise a child is a topic we have previously explored on our blog.
I love that I have the option to care for two of my grandchildren by living in the same city and only a few small suburbs away. And I will increasing spend more school holidays on the western seaboard of Australia to care for the other two. There isn’t one size fits all approach to childcare, but government run centres offering Australia-wide standardised care at no cost would sure be a boost to both families and the national economy.
