How will your business function when coronavirus wipes out traditional childcare?

With a significant portion of the UK workforce relying on childcare and schools, we have prepared a snapshot of the coronavirus impact on the childcare market to help businesses with their contingency planning.

While it’s unclear how exactly the coronavirus situation will pan out, one thing is almost certain — (some) schools, nurseries, childminders and after-school clubs will close. When closures do occur, we can expect them to last for anywhere between a week and two months.

When it comes to pre-school childcare specifically:

Nurseries are likely to close if schools close.

Childminders are likely to close as well, as they fall under the same regulation as nurseries.

Family members such as grandparents who are often relied upon for childcare are likely to start pulling out given they are more at risk.

Nannies on the other hand, are likely to continue to work unless travel restrictions are put in place and/or sickness occurs.

We expect that over the coming weeks (likely through to the end of April and possibly into May), 50–70% of childcare arrangements will be severely impacted or cancelled, with 95%+ being impacted in some way. This will put a considerable strain on working parents and businesses in turn.

For example, in a typical organisation where 30% of your workforce are parents with children aged 10 years old or younger, 15%-20% of your workforce may not be able to work, or their working hours will be significantly reduced due to disruptions in childcare for a period that could last up to 10 weeks.

As a business, you may already have an agreement in place with one of the traditional emergency childcare providers. If so, please note that they are already experiencing a considerable strain on their limited pool of nannies which is not ready to deal fully with the significant increase in emergency/backup childcare, that is very likely to happen.

To help alleviate the pressure, we are now making our professional team of nannies available for backup childcare and are offering a flexible corporate package.

myTamarin back-up childcare for corporates includes:

myTamarin 5-step nanny vetting

All myTamarin nannies go through our 5-step vetting process, including a comprehensive interview, verbal reference checks, status to work check, as well as criminal background and first aid checks.

Plus! additional Coronavirus precautions

1. All myTamarin nannies have received our new practical course on hygiene and how to minimise the spread of coronavirus.
2. All nannies and parents are being asked to self-declare (at least weekly) that they are not showing any of the known coronavirus symptoms and have not recently travelled to any of the Government listed countries. Both parties have the option to opt out.

Personalised matching of families with nannies

Our in-house psychologists and childcare specialists will match families and nannies based on both objective and subjective criteria.

Admin management

Payments are collected and paid via the myTamarin payment platform to minimise the admin burden for parents.

How it works for parents:

With myTamarin being the best nanny agency in UK, parents have a choice of nannies. With traditional emergency back-up childcare, a parent doesn’t have a choice and will meet the carer for the first time when they arrive on their doorstep to start.

1. Parents sign up with details of their requirements
2. myTamarin specialist discusses requirements with parents and sends a short list of suitable candidates
3. Parents review matches and select preferred candidate(s) to interview
4. Parents confirms which nanny they would like to hire
5. Parents set up direct debit with myTamarin who will handle nanny payments

As a parent, you have unique needs and finding the right nanny can be tricky and time-consuming. Whether you’re looking for a temporary maternity nurse, a full-time nanny or anything in between — myTamarin understands what it takes to find the right fit for you and your family and will make your priorities our own.

We offer a ground-breaking matching approach based not only on skill-set but also on your unique personality, parenting style, preferences, values, and needs. Whether you’re looking for a long-term maternity nurse or occasional night nanny, we’ve got you covered!