Annual leave and child care

[theonetruechris]

Hi, Its ratchet.

 

Rather naively ive only just been discussing annual leave at work. On my payslips it is written as hours rather than days and it doesnt look like much at all that ive accrued. looking into it. It appears i accrue roughly 2 days Annual leave per month/24 days per year...........In comparison, its a rubbish amount to the leave i had in the UK.

 

If adam was at school, how on earth would i be able to look after him in the school holidays ???? If hubby got the same as me it would cover about 8-10 weeks.

 

Ive just totalled it up to be about 12-14 weeks off a year from school then theres the bank holidays. We dont have family/friends around, so how do you guys do it??:confused:

[ErmintrudeMcMoo]

Back in the UK when we moved down South we had no-one around to help and had to rely on childminders. In my first job there I got 2.5 days accrued holiday in a month, plus I worked Saturdays on a roster (a real pain when hubby could be away for 6 months with his work). Once I began to make friends we would help each other out (I worked days and my friend worked evenings). When my friend moved away it was back to relying on a childminder again, though it wasn`t too bad when my daughter was at school but the school holidays meant I didn`t see much from wage as most of it went on childminder fees. Ultimately I guess it was my choice to work and have a child (though tbh we needed the money too) sometimes you just have to take it on the chin knowing that it won`t be forever. When we moved here I was in a better position as my daughter is now a teenager and able to look after herself, plus because I work for the Education Dept I now get most of the holidays off. Try to hang in there for now - at least you have a breathing space - it`s easier to find work when already in work IMO and you can look for a better job with better conditions.

[Quoll]

Blimey you are lucky, most folk only get 20 days a year - 4 weeks. Plus you get the public holidays - maybe another 10 days a year. School is usually 41 weeks a year unless you go private in which case there are more holidays.

 

When kids are at school, most parents use school holiday programs, elderly rellies, extended family, family day care or they take time off from work and use up their rec leave. With most families these days being two income families you find other people in the same boat so there often isnt the same informal "child care" network that we may once have had.

 

I too worked in education when my kids were little so it wasnt really an issue for me but taking time off when they were sick or when they had special events at school like swimming carnivals was difficult.

[ali]

We used a local basketball camp for our son for a few of the school holidays, they took children of school age and it was really reasonable. I also worked shifts initially and used to work nights .... slept very little during the day. In the UK we had to use childminders and holiday clubs as we didn't have anyone to look after the children in the holidays. We're in the same boat here, but the children are now older.