Navigating the Double Bind of Childcare and Entrepreneurship as a Woman in Northern Ireland

Monday 14 October 2024

By Rachel Brammer | Founder & CEO at On-set.

When I moved to England earlier this year, I was optimistic about balancing my role as a mother with my budding entrepreneurial journey. With access to 30 hours of free childcare, both children dropped off at the same time, and the additional benefit of free school meals, I finally felt I had the flexibility and support needed to pursue my career seriously. I could structure my time, focus on my business, and, most importantly, be taken seriously as a woman in business. It was a game-changer.

Fast forward to Autumn, back in Northern Ireland, and the situation couldn’t be more different. I returned because of my success in securing two crucial grants—one from Women in Business and Techstart and another from Founder Labs. Both of these opportunities have been pivotal in giving me the financial runway, support and confidence to pursue my startup idea. Yet, the harsh reality I faced upon returning home was the overwhelming lack of childcare support.

Take a look at the settling-in schedule for my son's preschool, and you'll see the absurdity of the situation. I’m expected to pick him up every day after an hour of preschool, then slowly increase by 15 minutes each day for a month!
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The logistics of it barely make it worth turning the car around. My other son has school pickup at 2 PM, meaning my available working hours for business drop down to a measly 15 hours per week. That’s not ideal when you’re in the middle of launching a startup, prepping for demo days, and needing to be at your most productive.

What makes it worse is that there's no infrastructure here to assist mothers who are trying to balance it all. There’s no flexible or adhoc childcare service that can pick up at these odd hours, and the attitude in Northern Ireland generally seems to look down on Women trying to focus on a career.

This isn't just a personal rant; it's systemic. Women receive less than 2% of all investment in the UK annually, and that figure drops even further in Northern Ireland. When it comes to women in tech, the situation is even more dire, with very few female-founded tech businesses receiving the necessary funding to grow. Childcare, or rather the lack of it, cannot be ignored as a significant factor in this equation. While some measures, such as the planned expansion of pre-school hours and childcare subsidies, have been introduced, their ability to be implemented remains questionable. How are women supposed to grow their businesses, seek investment, and lead companies when they can’t even count on basic support like consistent childcare?

The hardest part of my transition back to Northern Ireland has been September. As preschool settling-in schedules dictated my life, I was juggling demo day prep with multiple sessions lined up that I couldn’t afford to miss. With minimal support, I found myself asking, is it really viable to continue my business here, despite the support of family, friends, and a thriving startup ecosystem?

That’s the crossroads I find myself at. I’ve been incredibly lucky to receive phenomenal support from organisations like Founder Labs, Ormeau Blabs, The Amp, Invest NI, Techstart and Women in Business. They’ve provided me with the space to start my business, and people like Ian Browne have championed cross-border relations and the ecosystem impact. But I can’t help but wonder, what good is this support if the broader structural issues, like affordable childcare, aren’t addressed? Women in business don’t just need investment; they need infrastructure that allows them to invest in themselves and their ventures.

Northern Ireland is home to an exciting, burgeoning startup scene, but if we want it to be truly inclusive, we need to address the reality that women, especially mothers, are still playing catch-up. Childcare isn’t a secondary issue; it’s a primary factor affecting the productivity and success of women in business.

For now, I’m pushing forward, but the real question I’m grappling with is this: is it feasible to continue living in Northern Ireland while pursuing my entrepreneurial ambitions? The answer to that lies not only in my passion and work ethic but in whether Northern Ireland will step up and provide the support women like me truly need.

Monday 14 October 2024