Hey, Ireland, you’ve got a long way to go when it comes to sorting out your childcare system – sincerely everyone who pays more for childcare every month than they do their mortgage.
Anyway, here’s a little tip: In Turkey, they are now piloting a scheme that will provide state salaries to grannies who take care of their grandchildren during workdays.
Yup, that’s right. According to Working Mother magazine, retired and nonworking grandmothers in Turkey generally receive pensions that range between 1,000 and 1,800 Turkish liras ($250-$450); and with this new initiative, the state will offer an additional salary of 400 Turkish lira—about $105—a month to grannies looking after their grandchildren – a move that, they hope, will enable more mothers to return to paid work after having children.
The program, called the National Mobilization in Working Life, aims to boost employment for Turkish mothers.
As of yet, the benefit will only be available to families with mothers who currently work part-time—the idea being that as grandmothers take over more childcare duties, the mums will be able to transition to full-time employment.
The program will initially target approximately 1,000 families in the Turkish provinces of Izmir and Bursa for six months, before expanding to other provinces, ultimately aiming to employ 500,000 Turkish grannies.
We can’t help but think that this only sounds like a pretty great idea. I mean; science has proved that looking after grandchildren is actually all sorts of beneficial to grandparents’ health, and since affordable childcare is a major issue to a lot of young families, this program seems like the ultimate win-win.
Working parents can take advantage of a no-cost, reliable caretaker for their children, and granny gets to make money while spending quality time with the grandkids.
However, not everyone in Turkey is a fan apparently—the Women’s Labor and Employment Initiative believes it’s simply a way for the government to avoid paying for state-sponsored childcare, not to mention that it leaves families that lack capable elder relatives without a solution.
What do YOU think, guys? Would this work for you? Or do you think grandparents should be allowed to just be grandparents, and not used as affordable childcare? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie
