A new childcare proposal would pay stay-at-home moms out of a fund created to help get women back into the workforce. That's a culture-war distraction, not a real plan, writes @MaryEllenKlas (via @opinion)

Ireland’s Childcare Crisis A few facts: Between 2020 and 2025, more than €8 billion was allocated to the Department of Children. Most of this money went towards migrant hotels that operate at 50%+ profit margin. Companies linked to Séamus “Banty” McEnaney and his family have reportedly received more than €300million. Since 2016, Ireland’s last three Ministers for Children have not had children themselves. The Govt promised to reduce full-time childcare fees to approximately €200 per month. Delivering that commitment is estimated to require an additional €300 to €500 million per year. Ireland currently allocates approximately: €1.5 billion a year to childcare Which is half the amount, €3 billion, they allocate to asylum, refugee and Ukrainian-related accommodation and supports Normal people have no idea how badly our finances are being run.

Dads today are doing more childcare than previous generations, so why hasn’t the parenting gap between mothers and fathers disappeared? One reason: mums are doing more too.

SCMP: "Beijing should drastically raise its nationwide childcare subsidies to stave off a deepening birth crisis, according to Chinese scholars, who warned the country’s fertility rate could soon fall to the lowest in the world unless action was taken."