– This study shows what educators have shown for a long time, namely that parents have a really hard time being at home with their sick children. And that is why they are often sent to the day care institution, says chairman of Bupl Elisa Rimpler.
The survey was conducted among 1008 parents with children aged 0-6 years. Out of the parents who have handed over sick children, 76 percent answer that they did not have the opportunity to stay home from work.
When children become ill, parents typically have the option of staying home from work and taking the child’s first and in some cases second sick day.
During the corona pandemic, there has been a strong focus on keeping children at home if they have the slightest symptoms, and for many it has been possible to work from home.
A temporary scheme also gave parents the opportunity to receive unemployment benefits for a period of time while caring for a child who had been repatriated or infected with covid-19.
But everyday life is now returning to the day care institutions, says Elisa Rimpler.
– We have done something really good during the corona to prevent disease to a much greater degree. For the benefit of children and everyone else. Also for the economy.
– So something must be done. With this study, we should stop and see if we can do something different, she says.
If it is realistic that parents should be able to take time off from work for up to 14 days, as a completely normal virus can easily last for a small child, she says that you can see against, for example, Sweden.
In February, a citizens ‘proposal to extend parents’ right to care for their sick children received the necessary 50,000 votes and was taken up in the Folketing.
The proposal highlighted a Swedish model where parents can look after sick children up to 12 years and receive an amount corresponding to 80 percent of the unemployment benefit rate.
It is possible to receive the benefit up to 120 days a year. On average, it is used 7.6 days a year, it sounded at the time.
The proposal received support in the Folketing from the Socialist People’s Party and the Unity List, but did not receive the necessary majority.
At the Danish Employers’ Association, Deputy Director Steen Mรผntzberg also believes that parents have enough opportunities today to care for their sick children.
– We have gradually created a set of rules in the labor market that makes it possible to handle sick children, so that parents have time to find alternative care options, he says to Politiken.
He emphasizes that many private and public employees have the opportunity to take the child’s first and second sick days, just as many have two annual care days and also a number of extra holidays and days off.
– And then we have learned under the corona that many of us have a job we can take care of from home. And you can also use that opportunity if you have a sick child, he says to Politiken.
Source: The Nordic Page