Anonymous
July 24, 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?
We have used a childcare center (daycare) with full-time enrollment starting around 4.5 months. The area where I live seem to have a good general availability of daycare options, and also lots of individuals willing to work as nannies. Decently satisfied with the options (would be better if we lived closer to at least one set of grandparents, but unfortunately that was not in the cards for us).
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?
I paid a deposit for a spot at the daycare when I was about 4 months pregnant, as there could have been a significant wait had I not. Fortunately for those living in my area, the current daycare that we use is expanding to a second location, and another high quality daycare has opened in the area, so it seems like supply is getting better. Probably the biggest childcare challenge would be managing our son when he would get sick (frequently in our first year of daycare) and balancing that with work and teaching schedules since both parents are academics.
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.)
affordability could be better, higher quality backup care could also be better. we have access to backup care through our university, but i've heard it is not great and the people who show up to care for your child are not very professional. So we never ended up using it.
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