how do you manage looking after the kids in the holidays?

[Guest sam morgan1968]

we have our visas in place and are looking forward to the move:). Our biggest worry - as we are both looking to work full time

, is childcare provision. I understand that the schools have 3 breaks of 2 weeks each + 6 weeks for Christmas. Do the holidays granted by employers stretch this far if we took out hols seperately to look after the kids?

 

This is by far my biggest concern as we will not have any support network. Our sons are 13 and 8. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Rachiegarlo]

It depends what kind of job you have as to how many weeks holidays you have. General rule of thumb for non shift workers is 4 weeks. Shiftworkers such as nurses working across 7 days get 6 weeks. Most Primary schools run vacation care and OHSC (before/after school care) which you pay for. High schools don't have anything. If you are worried about your 13 yr old having no supervision you could go down the au pair route or find activities that he could be involved in.

[Guest Guest5035]

Perhaps only 1 parent works??

 

Stevo

[jomark]

not many familys have that luxury anymore stevo....

 

Jo

[Guest Guest5035]

Too many wants these days..

 

stevo

[jomark]

i dont think so stevo, the cost of everyday living (the important things like eating, paying mortgage etc etc not going out or holidays) is going up and living on one wage is not always possible........im sure the OP did not want to start a debate on parenting she was asking for advice not judgement............

 

Jo

[Guest Guest5035]

i dont think so stevo, the cost of everyday living (the important things like eating, paying mortgage etc etc not going out or holidays) is going up and living on one wage is not always possible........im sure the OP did not want to start a debate on parenting she was asking for advice not judgement............

 

Jo

been there done that since 91 on one wage and it is possible without the i wants, believe me and i was giving advice

 

stevo

[Jessica Berry]

The leave system works differently here to the UK. The minimum (not on shifts) is 20 days leave, but you usually have to accrue the leave before you can take it, so for example you would need to work 6 months to accrue 10 days leave. Some organisations have 'purchase leave' systems in place where you basically buy leave at your normal wage.

 

In my opinion, another thing to consider is the working hours. Depending on your line of work, standard hours are often 38 hours or 40 hours a week. In the organisations I have worked at very few have been 'family friendly' and taking time off for example because your child is sick would not go down very well (this is just my observation and the reality of some workplaces in Adelaide). That is not to say that family friendly organisations are not out there, they are, you just need to choose your employer.

[Guest moonraker1959]

I'm with Stevo on this one.We survived on one wage for years and hubby was'nt earning much either.Later when my kids were older I took a job working partime(7-9pm 5 days a week)in our local take out.We did'nt have much but we were happy back then.

[andy and lindsey]

My husband and I both work, him full time and I work .8. My boys are 10 & 8 - we use Osch, although Andy works shifts so we don't have to use it too much but we do us vacation care at Osch. The only thing to note would be that Osch is closed for two weeks at Christmas so my friends help me out. Possibly an option to look at part time/casual work until you establish some support networks. The Osch at our school operates from 7.30am and cost is about $8 after school closes at 6.30pm cost $13. A week of vacation care is about $40 per child but well get some government assistance with this and at tax time or throughout the year you get 50% of your out of pocket expenses back. Check with the school you are looking at if they have Osch/vacation care and what times it opens.

[Rich & Chit]

My husband work full-time and I tried looking for work during school hours which is very hard to find, ideally school work as it'll coincide with school hols, etc. I'm just doing casual work when kids are at school n try not to work when it's school break. Even you find a network of friends, you can't always ask a favor for them to babysit as they have their own children to look after.

[Guest chocolate]

could you ask parents of friends they have made at school? This is what my parents did with my brother and I somedays but we often just had to stay by ourselves but my brother was old enough to anyway, you could also send them to oshc at primary school, if your oldest son is in primary school?