Scottish Government-funded childcare is a life-changing resource for many parents who might struggle to afford the amount of care that allows them to continue in their careers, but not every parent entitled to these benefits can use them, writes education correspondent Garrett Baylor Stell.

Many families across Scotland are facing an impossible decision. 

Despite the government providing thousands of pounds in funded childcare hours, with the promise of even more on the way for younger children, many parents are still today left deciding whether to continue working and leave their children without care, or to give up or drastically alter their career trajectories so they can provide care for their babies or wraparound care for school-age children.

Except, of course, this dilemma is a false one, because parents know that there is only one option. The Sophie’s choice they appear to be caught in is actually just a high-stakes game of “chicken”; parents voice concerns about their situation to local authorities, schools, the press and elected officials, while they stretch themselves as thinly as possible for as long as possible until, right before they snap, they make the decision they felt was inevitable all along and sacrifice their careers in order to be home for their children.

Regardless of how much parents value that time, the result feels like a capitulation. This is particularly true for many of the mothers I speak to, who feel sharply the sometimes silent, sometimes overt assumption that if there is a career........

© Herald Scotland