Work-life balance outside of school hours is complex, particularly for families with no support network or without enough financial resources. To enable people to work, get training or take a breather, the municipal childcare service known as Concilia is being offered at another centre and will be extended until 5 July.
The new childcare space is at the Institut Escola El Til·ler, in the Bon Pastor neighbourhood. The new option comes in addition to the existing spaces in the neighbourhoods of La Verneda i la Pau, El Besòs i el Maresme, Trinitat Vella, El Raval, La Marina and Zona Nord.
The care spaces are for young children between the ages of 4 and 12, particularly sing-parent families, those without a support network or victims of gender violence. The municipal child-minding service is free and operates every day of the week outside of school hours, on weekday afternoons, and mornings and afternoons at weekends.
Each centre provides care for eight children each hour and offers quality leisure time. Teaching activities are adapted to their ages and based on values such as co-education, participation, environmental education, interculturally, emotional education, art and health.
The new support point means the Concilia project now offers service at the following facilities:
- La Verneda i la Pau: Casal de Barri La Pau
- El Besòs i el Maresme: Casal de Barri Besòs
- El Bon Pastor: Institut Escola El Til·ler
- La Trinitat Vella: Escola Ramon Berenguer III
- El Raval: Espai Erasme Janer
- La Marina: Sala Pepita Casanellas
- La Zona Nord: Centre Cívic Zona Nord
The spaces use a 48-hour advance booking system via the website https://concilia.incoop.cat, although teams operating the service also have hours set aside for families who don’t have the possibility of reserving online.
Concilia has provided childcare on more than 2,800 occasions since September, looking after nearly 400 infants. Nearly half of families who used the service are single-parent households, the main reason for using the service being work. In addition, 26 of those cared for had special education needs.
Gender perspective for the Neighbourhood Plan 2021-2024
The Concilia project is one of the measures from the Neighbourhood Plan to be applied in the areas where it is most needed. The new plan, currently being defined, addresses the feminisation of poverty and gender inequalities, made worse by the Covid-19 crisis. Anticipated initiatives include backing for the socialisation of care work, with meeting spaces, mutual support and ongoing support for women, educational work and training for young people and teenagers to guarantee more gender equality, the creation of professional care programmes and support for women working in this sector to guarantee decent labour rights.