What difficulties do working parents in Jersey face?

Thursday 02 March 2017

A Jersey charity has extended the deadline on a survey intended to find out how difficult it is to juggle a job and juniors.

400 people have completed it so far, and the Jersey Childcare Trust says flexibility is already coming through as a major issue facing parents in the workplace.

So far, the data has shown that:

• Participants gave a mean score of 3.5/5 when rating how approachable their employer was to discuss parenting responsibilities and pressures.

• 97% of participants have been female

• 47% do not have extended family on the Island to support them in parenting

• 50% of participants feel they would benefit from increased work flexibility

• 30% feel their partners would benefit from more flexibility from their employment

(Photo: Dasa Wharton Photography)

Fiona Vacher, Executive Director of Jersey Child Care Trust, said that the survey was intended to provide data for the charity to discuss childcare issues with employers' representatives such as the Chamber of Commerce and with Social Security, to help bring family issues to the table.

“We obviously work closely with parents and we hear about the impact employers can have” as she explained the need for employers to “know the impact of their policies.”

Initially the JCCT planned to close the survey at the end of February, however they have decided to extend the participation deadline to 10 March, 2017 as they think one final push will help them gather more important data that is necessary in creating a detailed picture of the issues employed parents face.

(Photo: Dasa Wharton Photography)

The survey is still open online and can be completed by clicking here.