image
1

childcare, Source: Stadt Linz (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 AT)

Linz acts on need for childcare

Linz acts on need for childcare

The Austrian city wants to allow parents to get back to work in order to support their families

The shutting down of schools and educational facilities suddenly presented a brand new problems to parents of children and officials. Out of nowhere, hundreds of kids were forced to stay at home with their parents. In turn, many parents who had no alternatives but to stay with their children suddenly found their circumstances incompatible with the demands of their job.

The fact that thousands of families across Europe were suddenly forced to remain at home in order to take care of their children is yet another cause for economic turmoil as it has deprived many businesses of their experiences and dedicated professionals.

Local action in Linz

Yet city authorities in Linz have not forgotten about such families and acted as soon as they were able to – namely by opening childcare centres staffs with educational and childcare professionals who are able to take care of kids throughout the day while allowing their parents who work essential jobs to go to work and be of service to the entire community.

More specifically, the local government of the Austrian city opened a total of 9 kindergartens specifically for this purpose. Said establishments employ some 50 professional each day and took care of an average of 100 children each day throughout the last week according to the mayor of Linz Klaus Luger.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that Austria has already begun lifting some of its lockdown restrictions, the childcare currently on offer is made exclusive only to members of single-parent households or those where the parents are employed in the so-called “essential jobs and sectors” as well as employees who are determined to be indispensable to their employers.

Making the service exclusive allows for the maintenance of social distancing measures that are also key when fighting the spread of COVID-19.

Newsletter

Back

Growing City

All

Smart City

All

Green City

All

Social City

All

New European Bauhaus

All

Interviews

All

ECP 2021 Winner TheMayorEU

Latest