The childcare questionnaire has now been removed from the site. Many thanks to all of you who submitted a completed copy.

Over 100 parents took part in the questionnaire and their replies make very interesting reading. On this page you'll find a summary of our conclusions and some of the more detailed comments we received.

If anyone would like more details please contact the site at admin@forparentsbyparents.com

Our conclusions:

• Our respondents seem to be fairly representative of parents in Britain today. 25% of respondents (all with young children, under 5) did not work outside the home;
  
  
• Relying on grandma - we were amazed to find that over 50% of working respondents relied entirely on grandparents for their child care support. Consequently, all were happy with their child care arrangements;
  
  
• Working guilt - there was an almost equal split between those mothers who always felt guilty about leaving children with another carer and those who never felt guilty;
  
  
• Thumbs up for employers - most interestingly, out of 32 respondents who had tried to renegotiate their hours of work post having kids almost all had been successful and were complimentary about understanding bosses.
  "Last year my son hurt his head playing at a friend's house and needed to go to hospital. My boss just let me go and I didn't have to take it as time off or work the time back."
  
  
• Thumbs down to expensive child care costs - those not lucky enough to have grandparent support are vocal about the high cost of child care in UK today;

  More than one respondent made the following comment: "we should be able to write off all childcare costs against tax."

Below are a number of the more detailed comments we received from parents:

"The cost of the childcare each month to allow me to work full time as a single parent is £720 - I sometimes wonder if it is worth it!"

"I would like to see greater availability of flexible and affordable childcare."

"Our child loves going to the childminder and is in need of time with other children."

"I have found childcare for my 3 year old but have found it impossible to find any for my baby. I therefore work nights and sleep when she does which is far from ideal."

"My own personal opinion is that if you have children you should look after them yourself."

"Fortunately I have a very understanding boss. Last year my son hurt his head whilst playing at a friends house and needed to go to hospital to have it stitched. My boss just let me go and I didn't have to take it as time off or work the time back."

"People should be able to write off all childcare costs against tax."

"I think that it's almost impossible to hold down the demands of a professional job and have children in school."

"There should be some kind of incentive and financial help to return to work. Better maternity pay, more flexible hours, tax benefits"

"I actually feel that it's the parents responsibility to care for their child which ever way they choose. If it's through childcare then they should cover the cost."

"The company I work for gave us five emergency days a year in case of problems with childcare where they still pay us if we need to have time off which is comforting to know."

"I worked full-time for a company for 12 years. I asked for part time before returning from maternity leave however the answer was a definite NO. Thanks to family, I remained full-time there until my son was almost 3. I then left to get part-time job elsewhere - but could only manage to get one for afternoons. This is OK while he's at playgroup but he will start full-time school in January and working afternoons will then become pointless as I will not see him until 6pm at night. Unless my current employers will reconsider the hours I may have to look for another job."

Your Views and Comments

I had to work 12 hour shifts when my 3 children were young. As my husband came home from work I would be going to work. When I came home in the morning he was leaving for work. We could not afford to pay childcare fees for 3 children under 4 years old. I would sleep when they slept. This continued for 18 months before I gave up my job to be a stay at home mum. At least I had more energy and gave them all the love and care that they needed.

Roberta

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