Anonymous
July 19, 2026Childcare solutions used & satisfaction
If you needed childcare in the past 10 years, what childcare solutions (e.g., childcare center/nursery, nanny, family support, adjusted work schedule, etc.) did your family end up using? Are you satisfied with the availability of childcare options in your country of employment, why or why not?
Childcare center, nanny, family support. Options were plenty, but the quality seemed widely variable with mostly all mediocre. Even the one we finally used as a daycare had lots of attrition and neglect occasionally.
Joined multiple waitlists?
Did you join multiple childcare waitlists while searching for care?
No
Biggest challenges & their impact
Looking back, what were the biggest childcare challenges (e.g., long waiting times, affordability, quality, location, etc.) your family faced? How did these challenges impact your work and family life?
Quality. It's hard to navigate work stresses and teaching responsibilities when kids have a tough time at the childcare place and then have tough emotions to process at home. The hours are also not suitable for evening teaching or Saturday, especially when the kids are <5 years old and there is no family support in the city.
One thing to change
If you could change one thing about today's childcare system, what would it be? (For example: access, affordability, quality, employer or university support, emergency backup care, or anything else.)
employer support by ensuing parents of young kids do not have weird work hours and are able to accommodate sick days. we know there is 2 years of pretty much back to back sicknesses when starting daycare, which has seriously affected our ability to function. things like teaching are so rigid that it would be fantastic to take some time off teaching during the initial years to support young parents.
Additional insights
Are there any additional comments or personal insights you would like to share about childcare?
Thanks for doing this! I hope something useful comes out for future generations. I also find it horrible that due to the well known difficulties of parenting in initial years and uncertainties, lots of tenure-track folks postpone having kids to later in life, which brings its own can of worms!
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