Anonymous
July 21, 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?
When my daughter was born, my wife took care of her at home for the first six months. Then she returned to work, and we had a rotating schedule of grandparents taking care of her at our home (which they had to fly to) for three months. Then my daughter started attending pre-school (year-round, full day). Then we moved when my daughter was 2 and we switched to a preschool program which we really liked but that had worse hours (8:30-3pm). I adjusted my work schedule to start my workday around 7am and end it at 3pm for school pickup. This lasted one year. We also have grandparents help us cover the summer holidays.
Joined multiple waitlists?
Did you join multiple childcare waitlists while searching for care?
Yes
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?
I was very fortunate that affordability was never an issue – rather, we had the opposite problem, we would rather have spent less time jockeying for position on waitlists. The biggest challenge is assessing whether a program is good (and good for your child in particular) from the outside. Gathering expert opinions from colleagues is the best signal but difficult to gather and can be sensitive since people are not willing to share bad experiences (for understandable reasons).
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.)
Quality (and especially how to assess quality) is the biggest issue I don't have a solution for. I wish I could spend more money to reduce the time spent investigating child care options.
Additional insights
Are there any additional comments or personal insights you would like to share about childcare?
I feel really fortunate as an academic to be able to alter my work schedule (non-teaching) to be there for my family.
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