September puts families' work-life balance on the ropes: "And what do I do with the children?"

PalmaIn the Balearic Islands, summer is the busiest season for many families and, at the same time, the longest holiday period for children. It is a contradiction that each year forces thousands of parents to juggle work while their children have not yet returned to school. The problem becomes particularly evident in September, when summer schools begin to close, but ordinary school has not yet started. During these days, families have to resort to relatives, private activities, and makeshift solutions to cover a gap that, according to the Federation of Families of Mallorca (FAPA), continues without a stable response.

“The needs and working conditions in the Balearic Islands are diverse,” explains Miquel Àngel Guerrero, director of FAPA's Technical Office. “We have many families who work during the summer and these people do not have holidays until the end of October.” The labor reality of the Islands means that many families cannot synchronize their holidays with those of their children. “In September, the majority of people who have been able to take holidays in August is the majority percentage. But there is a large volume of families who work during August and September,” he points out.

The voices of the problem

Natalia is one of those mothers who, during the summer, have to juggle their work schedules with those of their children. When she can, she resorts to activities and summer schools; when she can't, to family. “The problem is that I can't take three months of vacation. My children can, but I have to keep working. Every week I have to figure out who can look after them, on which days there's summer school, and what I can afford,” she explains. For her, the worst moment comes now, in September. “In August you still have more options, but there comes a point when summer school ends and school hasn't started yet. And what do I do with the kids? I can't stop working,” she laments.

The situation forces many people to rely on the family network. “You end up asking for favors. From your mother, your grandparents, whoever. And you do it because you have no other alternative. But you can't be asking someone else to look after your children every year because you have to go to work,” says Natalia. Her case exemplifies, according to FAPA, a situation that cannot be resolved solely with occasional measures. “So far, there's been a lot of talk about work-life balance, but we haven't yet found a real plan from the Administration,” criticizes Guerrero.

Summer schools are one of the main alternatives during the holidays, but they don't always cover the entire period. “Summer schools, when they exist, open until just before classes start, but we find many other schools that only open until the end of August,” explains Guerrero. The problem is that when these activities end, there are still days of school holidays left. “There is no other free alternative to have the children looked after during this period,” she warns.

The lack of alternatives means that grandparents end up becoming a fundamental part of work-life balance. Maria Luisa is a grandmother and this summer she had to take care of her 7 and 4-year-old grandchildren so that the parents could work. "I do it because they are my grandchildren and because, if I can't help them, I don't know what they would do. But I also have my own life. It's not like I'm on vacation and have nothing else to do," she explains. During these weeks, she has had to establish her schedule around her grandchildren. "There are days when I have to organize myself because I have to have them all morning, pick them up, give them lunch, and be with them until their parents arrive. And I do it happily, but there comes a time when it also gets tiring."

Maria Luisa understands that her children need help, but she believes that grandparents cannot become the main mechanism for work-life balance. “Children count on their grandparents because they know we will be there. But we are also getting older. And we can't always be available.” Guerrero agrees with this idea. “The ideal solution is for children to be with their parents or family. If grandparents can be there, fine, but it can't be the solution.” And he adds: “We can't count on that, because grandparents are increasingly exploited.”

Furthermore, the family network is not the same for everyone. There are families who have grandparents nearby and available, and others who have no family members who can take on childcare. “Family units are very diverse, and there are elderly grandparents, and others who work,” recalls Guerrero. “The social and family network covers needs, but unfortunately in many cities it doesn't exist, and children are left with inadequate care."

Without a network

This inequality also has an economic dimension. When a family does not have godparents or other relatives, the alternatives often involve paying for a summer school, a community center, activities, or a person to look after the children. Reconciliation therefore ends up depending not only on working hours, but also on the economic capacity of each household.

Guerrero criticizes that a good part of the current solutions depend on aid and private offerings. “Administrations have not put in place mechanisms or spaces, but rather offer occasional subsidies for summer schools to be held. According to him, when management is left in the hands of companies and entities without municipal coordination, the offer can disappear precisely when it is still needed. “If the approach delegates to private companies or NGOs, they perform a very local function. If, for example, in a municipality there are four summer schools and by mid-September only two remain, it will be profitable, but if each summer school goes its own way without municipal management to coordinate... of course it is not worth it”.

One of the alternatives that FAPA considers could be used are educational infrastructures, underutilized outside of school hours. “Open Playgrounds are an option for afternoons, but we have mornings blank and schools underutilized,” he points out. This situation becomes especially evident in September, when teachers have already returned to the centers but students have not yet started the course. “There are schools that raise objections and are reluctant to have summer schools working in the same space as teachers,” assures Guerrero.

Family breakdown

The result is a work-life balance model that is often built from individual solutions: parents who share shifts, holidays that are brought forward or postponed, grandparents who take on grandchildren, families who pay for private services, and children who go from one resource to another until the first day of school arrives. The solution, however, is not to advance the start of the school year. Natalia summarizes it from the perspective of a mother who has to start from scratch every summer: “I just ask that there be an option. That I don't have to start every September thinking about who I can ask for a favor or how much money it will cost me to have my children looked after,” she says. Maria Luisa sees it from the other side of the care chain: “I will help my children whenever I can, but grandparents cannot be the solution to a problem that concerns all families and society in general, with work schedules that mean many parents can't even see their children awake,” she laments.

The issue, for FAPA, is that work-life balance cannot depend on whether a family has grandparents available, can afford a summer school, or lives in a municipality that has managed to maintain a range of services until the return to classrooms. “So far, there is a lot of talk about work-life balance, but we still haven't found a real plan, and the Government is relying entirely on giving subsidies to set up summer schools,” insists Guerrero. September will once again demonstrate this: while many adults are working, children are still on holiday. School holidays end, yes, but the need to care for minors does not stop.