Mothers working for the NHS say they are being forced to quit their jobs as they grapple with the escalating costs of childcare and the inflexibility of nursery provision around their shifts.
Women have spoken to i about the desperation many parents in the NHS face as they try to juggle their careers around childcare and some say they have no choice but to leave their job because it does not make financial sense to keep working.
Campaigners say the extortionate costs of childcare together with the lack of availability of provision which fits around work is pushing people – particularly women – out of their jobs at a time when the NHS is experiencing a record level of vacancies.
They say some healthcare students are even dropping out of courses as they are struggling to afford childcare and are subsequently giving up their NHS careers before they have even started.
Katy Martin, gave up nursing because her entire take home pay of around £27,000 a year would have been swallowed up by childcare and its associated costs. She told i it seems farcical that the Government keeps talking about staff shortages and trying to get more people into nursing when they are failing to adequately support a young female workforce during their childbearing years.
“It is incredibly frustrating as we hear all the time about there being nursing shortages, but one of the major factors is that nursing has a predominantly young, female workforce and the Government, the NHS and the childcare system is not being accommodating to them having families.
“I have so many friends who have left nursing like me and are now either staying at home with their children, have gone into a completely different job, or have moved to a different country like Australia where they will be better supported and better paid.”
