Does not compute !

It seems that the penny has finally dropped on the provision of child minding facilities.   The government now recognises that we live in a twenty-four hour economy - and the child minding industry is still stuck in the nine to five, weekday only time warp.

This is an industry which is still geared to the 1950's.   It totally ignores the plethora of shift workers - cops, nurses, bus and train drivers, hotel staff, restaurant cooks and waitresses - the people who earn their living delivering the good life to those who work what used to be called " normal hours " and enjoy a two day weekend break.

Now there are plans to start extending child minding to cover this gap, and at the same time the government concedes that those working in this industry are under paid.  Pay levels are to rise by an average $ 114 a week to compensate for the increased skill levels the industry is being forced to employ.   Working in child care is fast becoming a professional occupation.

Filling the availability gap for child care will not happen quickly.  This extension will be both tentative and meagre in numbers, but at least it is a move in the right direction.   Unfortunately, it collides headlong with another move being sought by this same government.

There are moves to consolidate the principle of penalty rates in new legislation.    This is an election year and penalty rates are a shibboleth of the union movement, and the backing of the unions seems to be one of the few friends that this government still enjoys.

So - we are about to see an amazing tug of war.   The people who will be needed to man these night and weekend child care centres will be seen by the unions as subject to penalty rates such as time and a half and double time - because they are working outside that old nine to five culture.   This penalty rate imposition is going to make the new child minding facilities much more expensive - and probably put them out of reach of the very people they are planned to serve.

At the same time, the business world is slowly retreating from that nine to five culture.   Today's people expect to do whatever they want on a 24/7 basis and more services are becoming available outside that old time frame.   For instance, once insurance companies slammed their switchboard shut at 5 pm each working day.  Now you can buy insurance from a willing representative who answers the phone at almost any hour of the day or night - and all weekend.   Business is making sure that a service is available - when the customer wants to spend some money !

Unfortunately, government thinking, the attitudes of the unions - and how the real world actually works are usually three totally different things.    If this conundrum was fed into a computer -  the answer would be a terse     " Does not compute ! "