During this current heavy bout of snow, there has been disruption to many people’s lives. Gritting of roads is getting to the stage where only major roads will be gritted, as the stock of salt is quickly shrinking.
This is causing difficulties for, among others, schools. Teachers are incapable of getting to work and so there is nobody to look after students. This is a dilemma caused by teachers who no longer live close to the school in which they work. This is something that was not so prevalent a couple of decades ago. Working mums and dads have little notice that their youngsters cannot attend school, and sorting some form of childminding facilities at such short notice is less than wonderful.
For parents who Work From Home the worry is no less widespread. The time which would be spent working, while the kids are in class, no longer exist. The kids will be at home all day and want attention. Older ones will be able to sort themselves to some degree, so if you Work From Home you can probably still get a selection of your Online Jobs completed, between sorting out meals and drinks, squabbles and other minor issues which crop up. However, if you have small school-aged kids, then you will probably find that your whole day is now revolving around looking after them. Internet Business? What Internet Business?! You will probably have to write off the whole day to minding the children.
For mums and dads who do not Work From Home, but work in shops and offices, there is the query of how their kids can be looked after when they are suddenly not attending class. Will their employers be accepting of the fact that they cannot go into work today? Is there an option for some workers to work on Online Jobs from home, with use of a work pc? Will they make arrangements for parents to bring their kids into work and be looked after while parents do their job? Maybe their childminder can care for the youngsters all day for them, which of course will have a financial bearing on the parents.
Some families rely on after schools clubs for their childcare while they are working. Does the closure of school mean that the after schools club will also be shut? Will there be some way for the club being available all day? Could some parents run the club each day, meaning that other parents can still attend work, and perhaps run this on a rota basis, so that all parents can help out at the club, but also attend work? These are all questions which need to be answered.
However, because in this country we are not used to such weather conditions, we do not have emergency plans in place and usually everybody is just trying to manage the current situation, so nothing changes. Maybe this year’s bad weather has been our wake up call, and we can take time out to put emergency plans in place, so that whenever this type of crisis happens in the future, it does not cause the United Kingdom to come to a grinding halt, but is merely a blip in our otherwise smooth running working lives.

