Articles of Interest … January 2013

There have been numerous articles in the press recently on topics relating to children and the early childcare and education sector. Below we have listed some of these articles which may be of particular interest to members:

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ISPCC launches Missing Children’s Hotline

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has opened its 116 000 Missing Children’s Hotline.

The hotline will report missing juveniles to the relevant authorities such as the gardaí, accept tips about missing children, and provide emotional support to the parents of missing children and missing children themselves.

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Migrant Rights Centre calls for regulation of au pair industry

The Migrant Rights Centre has called for the introduction of statutory guidelines for the au pair industry.

It follows research from the centre that shows over a third of au pairs surveyed said they felt they were being exploited.

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Legislation to increase parental leave entitlement to 18 weeks

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said that new legislation is being prepared which will increase the amount of parental leave available to each parent per child from 14 weeks to 18 weeks.

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Subtracting the fear of learning maths

The final part of the Irish times series on literacy and numeracy gives strategies to boost your child’s confidence with maths, in 10 minutes a day.

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Quarter of our children grow up in jobless homes – twice EU average

Almost a quarter of all children in Ireland are growing up in a household where nobody has a job, the leading government-funded think tank says in a new report.

Half of all those living in so-called jobless households are children or disabled, the report adds.

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Big drop in vaccine uptake

New research has highlighted a sharp drop in the uptake of two childhood vaccines. The research found that a significant number of parents are still worried about vaccine safety.