'I work night shifts to avoid high childcare bills'

"I have to work a night shift because the childcare for nursery costs too much money."

Mum Gintare Ivorbutiene from Killyleagh in County Down has a seven-year old daughter and a four year old son.

But to avoid the cost of paying for childcare, she works night shifts in a factory so her husband can work during the day.

Gillian Hughes, who is a nurse, juggles childcare with her husband, who is also a nurse, in a similar way.

She has two sons, aged six and four.

"We're both nurses so we do split shifts," she said.

"So my husband would work a Wednesday and the weekends, all weekend, and then I do the rest of the week."

"So we're like ships that pass in the night."

"We couldn't afford childcare at all. It was more than my wage when we looked into it, and that was part-time."

It is the many families like them that the Northern Ireland Executive's childcare strategy aims to help.

The Executive plans to subsidise over half of all childcare costs for working families by April 2032.

According to the Executive's own figures, the average cost of full-time childcare is £57 per day, per child, or just under £15,000 per year before any deductions or subsidies.

But it will cost around £500m over the next four years to start to deliver that "ambitious but realistic" childcare strategy for Northern Ireland.

The strategy also highlighted the need for better pay and training for staff working in childcare and early years settings.

And that is something Karen McCormick wants to see.

Ms McCormick has led the Little Stars pre-school in Killyleagh since it opened nine years ago.

It almost closed in 2025 due to a wider reduction in Department of Education (DE) funding and Ms McCormick said that it was important that financial support was in place so that staff were paid in line with the responsibility their job brings.

"Our staff need fair pay, it's like any other business," she said.

"I don't think people realise the level of care that we give to our children and the responsibility that we have."

"If this comes in it would mean that all of our staff would be able to get fair pay, decent pay."

"Unfortunately so many of us are losing staff that are going to better paid jobs, that are more stable."

"If this new strategy comes in it means more reliability, it means more security."

She said measures to help parents would enable many to go back to work.

"They want parents out there working, but parents want the care for their children, secure care for their children," she said.

"But unfortunately at the minute it's all about money."

For Ms Ivorbutiene, although her son goes to pre-school for three hours a day, paying for more childcare to enable her to work during the day is just not affordable.

"When I work a night shift my husband stays at home, when my husband goes to work I stay at home," she said.

"What I get in the week for a salary, I'd have to pay for nursery so we make a decision to stay at home when the children are small."

"No nursery, no nothing because we have no money for that."

"I want to work a day shift like normal because of no sleeping, no nothing."

"But you can do nothing, just work like that."

Ms Hughes welcomed the childcare strategy produced by the executive, but said it needed to be implemented now.

She said that she knew of nurses who were having to take "years" out of the workforce as they could not afford childcare.

"The positive is they're now looking at childcare as essential infrastructure," Ms Hughes said.

"Affordable childcare definitely is needed in this country, but also the quality."

"Putting time into the workforce and valuing the workforce."

"Especially for working parents childcare isn't optional, so when you drop your child off at a pre-school, or a pre-pre-school or even a nursery then you're confident that the child is going to thrive."

"For working parents it definitely needs implemented now, for people to get back to work."

"I think they can deliver it, they have to deliver it."