Childcare: the Service Capitalism Won't Offer

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parents is 180 days on 90% pay the first countries to see female and 60 days per child per year emancipation as part of the temporary leave on 90% pay... general debate on human rights.

The most recent Swedish In 1968 a Swedish economist Legislation, which came into was telling the United Nations force on 1 January 1919, give. that its national income could all parents the right to. a six be increased by 35% if the le right to a six be increased by 35% if the •were encouraged go out to are only just over 2,000 places campaign more flexible Continued next week hour working day until their unused labour potential of day until their unused labour potential work. But those facilities have and about 3,500 on the waiting work schedules, part time work, Nursery campaigner Ann McKinley explodes the myth that even the most 'progressive' capitalist societies • provide adequate childcare facilities.

Today many other countries especially in Western Europe, are held up as being ahead of Britain in child care provision and legislation for women.

While this might seem to be the case, a closer look is needed to show how inadequate that provision really is.

It is also important to see that, as the crisis of capitalism deepens on a world scale, gains that have been won are taken away from women in these countries as well as in Britain. Sweden.

Sweden has always been seen as the country whose legislation for women's rights is well ahead of any other. Legislation is one thing, but providing adequate facilities to go alongside it is another.

Maternity leave for both child reaches 8 or a full leave of absence until their baby is 18 months-but with no financial compensation for lost earnings in either case.

In 1977 women represented 43.9% of the Swedish workforce and 66% of mothers of preschool age children were working.

Emancipation

Sweden was seen as one of women was fully used.

This of course did not take into account the cost of providing under 5's provision for working women. Indeed, even now only 22% of under 7's receive care, although sweden has set itself a target of providing places for all those that want it by 1986.

It was important during the post-war economic boom to get as many people as possible out into the labour market.

This fitted in well with the reformist ideas of the 45 year period of Social Democratic government which ended in 1976. The government planned nursery facilities, and women were encouraged to go out to work. But those facilities have not materialised.

The local authorities provide day care centres for pre-school children which are run by trained personnel at a ratio of one for every three children in the infant group.

They also employ day mothers who are housewives, often with their own children. In either case the parents pay the local authority according to their means, and the day mothers receive their salaries from the authority plus a monthly allowance for toys.

However, in one area there is a two year waiting list for local authority care. For a town with a populationof 117,000 there are only just over 2,000 places and about 3,500 on the waiting lists. It's the country.

And as the economic recession begins to bite in Sweden' the plans for expansion are dropped.

France is also heralded as way ahead of its time.

Maternity leave for the mother only is 16 weeks on 90% pay, with 26 weeks for those with three or more children. There is an optional two years unpaid leave for either parent.

In 1977, women represented 39.2% of the French workforce and there were 50.1% women Although pre-school provision is 79.6%, this is for children under six, and while it might be a remarkable quantitative achievement, its quality is far from satisfactory.

Staff/child ratios in nursery schools are between 1:40 and 1:45, and the Minister of Education announced that by 1980 these would be reduced to 35!

The nurseries' "full day" is six hours-which doesn't fit in with a working day of 8 hours oI more.

Only 20% provide some sort of care before and after the nursery day as well as lunch, which means arrangements have to be made by parents of the other 80%.

On top of these problems, children in France do not attend school on Wednesday afternoons. There has been a campaign for more flexible work schedules, part time work, Wednesdays off and the 35 hour week.

Although management is hostile to any decreases in work time it is ready to seize upon all possible redistributions' of work time which are likely to increase productivity.

At first reluctant about flexible working hours, management quickly understood that they too could benefit-large decreases in absenteeism, increases in production (an average of 15%) less overtime and increased difficulty for unions to organise in the workplace.

Such advantages couldn't be ignored, and, acting on the basis of experiments in West Germany and Switzerland, bosses soon became advocates of flexible working hours.

Women with their double workday were management's first guinea pigs and could only be pleased by the new step which "allowed" them to better reconcile their various obligations.

The demand for Wednesdays off for working women is full of pitfalls as it sidesteps the question of adequate child care centres. Some women in France are saying 'no' to the "freedom' offered by companies and demanding a sufficient amount of day care centres with qualified personnel.

They are not looking for Teadjustments' of their various obligations and constraints but a way of shedding them.

Review by McVicar