Ukrainian woman in Ireland balances work and childcare responsibilities – Irish Times

As the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches next Saturday, [February 24th]Ukrainian women who fled to Ireland with their children “continue to face huge structural barriers” to entering the workforce due to lack of access to affordable child care.

From 2022 onwards, three-quarters of Ukrainians who have come to Ireland under temporary protection orders will be women and children, many of whom are currently employed or actively seeking work, but unable to balance work and childcare responsibilities. Some told The Irish Times it was becoming a “major barrier”.

For Valeria Olynyk, who arrived in the town of Carrick-on-Suir in early June 2022 with her now seven-year-old daughter, childcare is a “big issue” on her mind as she is a widow and single parent. be.

Upon arrival, the family was sent to City West, but after three days without a message from her husband, Olynyk learned that her husband was seriously injured and in a coma. He died two weeks later.

The news has been extremely difficult for Ms Olynyk and her daughter, and has made things even “difficult” for her as she seeks to re-employ as a veterinarian in Ireland.

“I am still unable to work because I have been waiting for months for my qualifications to be recognized. The paperwork and translations are a pain. So this is another barrier for me,” she said.

Olynyk remains “positive” and feels there are “good options” for child care in her area when the time comes.

“I found a place to rent in Tipperary. In my area there is a good option of after-school club groups that look after the children if the parents are at work. It doesn’t cost anything,” she said.

“But some parents live together and have to combine their incomes to pay.”

Olynyk said there are other barriers to finding work, such as access to transportation.

“I need a car to work and get around more. That’s what makes it even more difficult for me,” she said.

Around 17,000 Ukrainians are currently working full-time in Ireland, an “unusually high” proportion given the proportion of refugees with childcare needs, TDs were told last month. .

[ 17,000 Ukrainians now in full-time employment in Ireland, TDs told ]

John McKeon, director general of the Department of Social Protection, told the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in January that around 30% of Ukrainian adults living in Ireland were employed.

He also told the meeting that the department’s case officers would tell them that Ukrainian refugees “want to be more actively involved.” [with employment support services] Probably more than other people we deal with. ”

Employment support services are provided to adult Ukrainians, with approximately 35,000 participants.

Mr McKeon told TDs: “There are three women living in a room in a hotel in the west of Ireland, one woman and two children, and they have childcare responsibilities.”

Ukrainians will have access to the full range of social welfare support in Ireland, including jobseeker payments, pensions, child benefits and rent subsidies, subject to the same conditions that apply to Irish nationals.

[ Living with Leo Varadkar: Ukrainian musician on how she fled home and ended up in the Taoiseach’s house ]

The Ministry currently pays child benefits to 21,000 children, and total expenditure to date on welfare support and services for Ukrainian refugees is estimated at 650 million euros.

Elvira Sieitabulaeva, who came to Ireland in 2022 from a small Ukrainian city called Melitopol, feels “lucky” compared to other Ukrainian women with children because she can work from home and her husband helps. He says he is. She is her too.

Sieita Vlaeva came to Ireland with her son (15) and daughter (5). Her husband was then able to flee Ukraine to join them.

She found work as a support worker in Ukraine through the Galway City Partnership and has a “flexible schedule that allows me to work from home.”

“I pick up my kids from preschool at 1 a.m. and take them home. That way I can continue working from home. If my husband works from home, that helps too.” she said.

“Now it’s not so difficult for me, but I noticed that many Ukrainian women are struggling. One woman I know started working as a kitchen porter and tried to send her children to two kindergartens. applied.”

“She spends three hours taking her child to that hospital, then takes a break to pick up her child, and then leaves her child at another hospital. That means she can only work six hours a day. That means.”

Sheitabulaeva’s colleagues “are flexible because they know that I have to be with the child.”

“Some people are afraid to start work because of their children and don’t know what will happen. But for me the Irish were very helpful and I was able to apply for after school. [programmes] That lasted a few hours. “The biggest problem really was finding a job in the first place,” she said.

Child care provision is a national issue that affects everyone in the country who is trying to maintain or return to work.But it gets even bigger when you look at the Ukraine crisis

— Empowerment CEO Adeline O’Brien

Sieitabulevava pays 100 euros a month for her youngest son’s after-school program, “which also helps.” “Now I have enough space that I can mostly stay home with my family.”

When they first arrived in Ireland, the family lived in a camp in Dublin for 10 days.

They were then sent to a hotel in Galway where they lived “for five months with the whole family in one room.”

“Now, my kids can play and do their homework in their own rooms while I work. But some people live in hotels or share a home with several families. For a person, it is much more difficult. I think it is impossible, ”said Syaita Vlaeva.

Empower, a non-profit organization based in Fingal, north Dublin, which turned its headquarters into a Ukrainian refugee center early in the war, continues to work with many Ukrainian mothers who are “out of work” to raise children. The representative said. Executive Adeline O’Brien told The Irish Times.

“It’s now two years later, [Ukrainian] The women do everything they can to prepare for employment, taking part in a wide range of English courses and industry-based training, as well as volunteering to gain experience. But they can’t get a job anyway,” O’Brien said.

[ ‘I strongly feel that we won’t come back home’: Ukrainians planning a future in Ireland ]

Empower is often the first point of contact for women who are new to the community and are trying to integrate, such as sending their children to school, attending public health services or language courses. .

The center continues to care for hundreds of Ukrainian refugees, most of whom live with women without husbands or partners, as the country’s martial law prohibits men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country. It’s a child.

“Unfortunately, not much has changed since then.” [2022] Regarding the provision of childcare. “Overall, the situation is gradually deteriorating,” O’Brien said.

“Providing child care is a national issue that affects everyone in the country who is trying to keep a job or return to work. But when you look at the Ukraine crisis, it’s even bigger,” she said. Ta.

In the first year of the war, there were “serious and successful attempts to support the integration of Ukrainians,” but “areas with young children and where affordable or community-based child care options are available” This was very difficult to maintain if there was no “area”.

There are now many “skilled, motivated people eager to enter the workforce,” but until their children reached school age, they had few options.

“Yet, their opportunities to work are limited to the time they have free time while their children are in school. Women who take time to even go to interviews are unable to find time because they cannot raise children. There are a lot of them.”

“Once you get past that stage, a local, flexible and considerate employer might initially do the trick for you, but then things change,” O’Brien added.

A national survey conducted by Excel Recruitment last summer found that almost 60% of Irish couples with children said one partner had quit their job due to childcare costs, the majority of them women. It turned out that

Parents in urban areas, particularly Dublin, are often faced with childcare costs exceeding €1,350 per month.

Mr O’Brien said the issue was a “structural and national” problem that “requires national investment to address”.

“It’s not something to commoditize or leave to the market. . . . The lack of quality, affordable child care is pushing families into poverty. It’s a huge barrier.”

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