Minnie’s Musings

Around the time my third child was born the government introduced paid paternity leave.

I recall sitting in an ante natal group and observing that they would be better saving the money and paying for six weeks of a cleaner. There were a couple of raised eyebrows.

Years later an acquaintance from that group observed how very right I was.

Now, do not get me wrong. I am married to someone who does his fair share. Particularly so when I worked as a full time teacher. I could not have done that without his support. Similarly he does shift work so has either been able to the children to school or pick them up. This has cemented an extremely strong relationship with our brood.

However my point was and remains that housework is a chore that can become burdensome when you are up against it. Like when you have a new baby or you are working either full time or while your children are at school. It gets in the way and cannot be put aside unless you want to drown in crumbs and dirty knickers.

I was reminded of this during a Today item on fostering. A writer and foster carer who had grown up in care was advocating for repairing the fostering system by investing in it. Her argument was that as foster carers decline in number, the best solution was not to do a recruitment drive but rather put in adequate support for existing foster carers so they would be happier and work as walking, talking advertisements for this valuable but neglected group of people.

In order to attend the training and meetings, complete paperwork and have the time and space to meet the needs of troubled children and young people, there was a need for time.

And the easiest way of gaining time was to pay for a cleaner. Once or twice a week. Just to keep on top of the housework and free up half a dozen hours or so to fitting everything else in did not become so onerous that people threw in the towel.

And you know what? Giving a person a cleaning job can turn them into an employee who can contribute to the system. Particularly if they are paid directly by the local authority.

QED money well spent: happier foster carers who can keep up and stay in the role; happier children and young people whose needs have some chance of being met; and a happy cleaner who has a job and is contributing to their own upkeep and possibly even the tax system.

What do you bet that such a sensible idea falls on the deaf ears of the ignorant and impractical?