A local MEP has raised the issue of extortionate childcare costs in Ireland in the European Parliament. Chris MacManus, MEP for Midlands Northwest, told the European Parliament that more must be done to make childcare affordable for Irish families. Speaking during a debate on the gendered impact of the cost-of-living crisis, MEP MacManus brought attention to the many women in Ireland who have been forced out of the workforce due to the inaccessibility of childcare.
Mr MacManus said throughout the pandemic, it was the women of Ireland that sustained our societies. The weight of paid and unpaid caring responsibilities, as well as work in low-paid essential services, was disproportionately carried by women, he said. Adding that we're now post-pandemic, and faced with a cost of living crisis, the disproportionality continues.
The local Sinn Fein MEP said the childcare system in Ireland is on its knees, with families paying akin to a second mortgage each month, meanwhile workers in the childcare industry, predominantly women, are barely earning enough to make ends meet.
