Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees during Covid-19

Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by OakNinja on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @01:51AM (#24417657)

In Sweden, preschool/childcare is a part of the school system, with it’s own education plan. My kids have loved going to their respective preschools, and they get to meet other kids and learn new things in a safe environment. Even though I love to hang out with my kids, I would never consider it better for them to stay at home with me. Btw, I have four kids, 2-12 years old, so I’ve seen quite a few preschools now and they have all been amazing.

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Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by meheleventyone on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @02:55AM (#24418059)

I’ve heard horror stories about childcare in the US from friends who live/lived there so I can understand people’s reticence when their only experiences have been extremely poor.

But likewise my experience in Iceland has been phenomenal. Experienced, educated teachers who specialise in pre-school education backed up by really caring support staff. And the schools are packed full of fun things to do and healthy food.

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Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by Freak_NL on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @03:35AM (#24418336)

Really. Bringing my 1½ year old kid to the (heavily subsidised) kinderdagopvang in the Netherlands is a no-brainer. He gets to play and mingle with other young children and enjoy himself tremendously, and we work from home. Professionals take care of his needs, and there is not a moment of worry as far as we parents are concerned. It's also only 500m away, so I get some fresh air too when I bring and pick him up by bicycle.

The day these day care facilities reopened (May 11th) was a good day.

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Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by mleo on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @09:48AM (#24420935)

Unfortunately, childcare is like most things in the US, cost and quality vary wildly. We had great childcare and preschool experience, but for a period of time was paying more than our mortgage to send the kids there.

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Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by Al-Khwarizmi on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @05:06AM (#24418935)

In my region of Spain, childcares typically have 1 adult per 8 children for under 1 year olds, 1 adult per 13 children for 1 to 2 year olds, and 1 adult per 20 children for 2 to 3 year olds. Some private childcares offer better ratios but not substantially better (they can brag about maybe (6,10,15) instead of (8,13,20), for example).

I don't doubt the professionalism of the people who work there, in fact I have a high opinion of them, but I think it's simply physically impossible to provide the kids with the care and stimulation they need with that kind of adult-to-child ratio. My kid demands an amount of attention that just couldn't be provided by 1/8th of a person before 1 year old or 1/13th of a person now that he's 1.

I suppose the solution ends up being strapping them to some bouncy seat or hypnotizing them with screens. And when it's meal time, just try to give them the food for 5-10 minutes and if they didn't eat much, bad luck. I can't blame the professionals because what can you do if you are alone with that amount of babies/kids? But that's something I don't want for him, I definitely think he's better at home where he can get more attention.

I suppose in Sweden the ratios will be much better, which of course changes everything.

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Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by Freak_NL on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @06:37AM (#24419557)

Those ratios are pretty high indeed. Eight babies for one adult! In the Netherlands:

    under 1: max 3 per adult
    1–2: 5 per adult
    2–4: 8 per adult

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Re:Tech firms face growing resentment of parent employees du... by tomatocracy on Wednesday September 09, 2020 @08:34AM (#24420292)

The UK is very similar though it depends a bit on the setting and qualifications of the person involved - but generally max 3 per adult for under 2s, max 4 per adult for 2-3 and 8-13 per adult for 3-4s.

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