Remote Work & Childcare
MariaEuler | 2023-11-26 21:49:01 UTC | #1
This event is free and has no commercial intentions. It is part of a research project.
The event will take place Wednesday the 21st 15:00 -16:00 CET. It is a 1h online session with an expert panel having a conversation on the topic while the audience can engage via questions in the chat. It bridges between the coworking event we had in July and the resilience summit but is an independent session that will be part of the Freelancer Week
Dear freelancers, other remote workers, coworking spaces and also employers,
We need to talk.
We need to talk about the realities of childcare for freelancing and remote working parents.
- Have your employers/clients adapted to balancing out how your needs might differ now?
- What is the reality in your household? How many hours do you spend working from your screen every day, and how much time does your child spend during that time using technology themselves?
- Which role does technology currently actually play in the reality of childcare in remote working households?
We want to have an honest and unbiased conversation about how childcare looks like in the time of home offices. What are the challenges, advantages, problems, personal stories of collapses as well as successes.
Let's have this conversation together!
- Contribute to this thread with your questions and experiences.
- Come to the discussion
- Post relevant links or contacts to explore this topic bellow.
To register for this event just comment on this topic.
You will be sent the zoom link to join the session 1 day before the event (another round of links will be sent out 1h before the event for those who register late).
You can use this link to share the event: https://tell.edgeryders.eu/14568
This event is part of the NGI Forward project Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, launched by the European Commission in the autumn of 2016. It received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 825652 from 2019-2021.
The call will be recorded for research purposes. Please read details about that process in this info sheet: https://edgeryders.eu/t/participant-information-sheet-freelancing-remote-work-technology-and-childcare/14575. By joining the call you are consenting to the recording as described in the information sheet.
MariaEuler | 2020-10-05 16:34:47 UTC | #2
Here are some links and potential relevant contacts that have already been brought to my attention by @RoRemote and @Berniejmitchell (thank you very much!) :
- https://cokids.es/
- https://www.third-door.com/ (contact Shazia for the panel)
- https://included.co/coworking-childcare-in-vancouver-bc-canada/
- https://www.radicalchild.care
Ping @Berniejmitchell and @JvdLinden, could you add more of your ideas, contacts and examples to this thread?
Also, ping @katejsim, could you give some input on the type of questions we should ask and how we should phrase them based on your ethnographic insights?
johncoate | 2020-10-06 17:13:35 UTC | #3
My first questions would be, if you have a kid at home and you work from home, how much time do you need to spend helping him, her or them occupy themselves in mutually satisfying ways and what technology do you use (try to) to accomplish it?
My daughter is in this situation. She works for a climate change org and was already largely working from home. She has 2 kids. Like almost all kids these days they use Zoom for school and get Zoom fatigue after just a couple of hours max.
Then what? She bought her 8 year old son an Apple Watch and set it up as a kid device. That goes with his phone and the big iMac in the family room. He likes to make and edit videos. This is a lot of tech for a kid, but he is very active and sporty and because of covid and bad air from wildfires, has to spend a lot of time indoors. He is out of his "play with little cars and trucks" phase and can't ride his bike or play ball with the neighbor kids. And she can't have him using the sofa as a trampoline. He doesn't have fine motor control skills, so no electronics set that needs solder. But making videos seems to have clicked. Plus his 16 year old cousin is pretty good at making videos so there is a role model aspect.
Her 7 year old daughter by contrast likes to draw and read books. So, paper, pencils, books.
MariaEuler | 2020-10-12 13:42:59 UTC | #4
RoRemote | 2020-10-12 14:28:29 UTC | #5
ping @katerinabc and @AgataW FYI
migueldavid | 2020-10-12 19:00:29 UTC | #6
Hi! I'd like to watch the event (if my baby allows for it :slight_smile:).
AgataW | 2020-10-13 09:52:22 UTC | #8
Thank you for organising, I would love to attend the event!
katerinabc | 2020-10-14 14:37:00 UTC | #17
Thanks for the ping @RoRemote @MariaEuler: I like to attend the event.
MariaEuler | 2020-10-14 14:44:30 UTC | #18
topical article in a germa newspaper: https://www.spiegel.de/familie/erschoepft-in-der-corona-krise-tipps-die-eltern-jetzt-helfen-koennen-a-7475a488-9292-4ce0-86d4-315a866dc944
MariaEuler | 2020-10-15 13:25:37 UTC | #19
Ping @amelia and @katejsim, I have now assembled a rather big panel with mothers and fathers from multiple countries with a wide variety of experiences balancing childcare and remote/freelancing work and event starting up and running their own businesses. (including one co-working space with an emphasis on childcare).
Since the panel is now bigger I would like to be very focused and well-thought-out with the questions I ask.
Could you guys help me to choose and formulate questions with your ethnographic sensibility and experience from the SSNA?
Also: Would you like to join?
amelia | 2020-10-15 13:46:00 UTC | #20
I'll be working on NGI next on Monday! If you come up with some in the meantime, let us know and we can help you edit and choose them then, as we have a team meeting on Monday too.
I don't think I can join on Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict but I'll let you know closer to time.
johncoate | 2020-10-15 18:06:42 UTC | #21
Here is a question about childcare and tech in today's reality: Has the pandemic caused you to quickly adopt new technology to keep your child occupied and happy while you are trying to work, or did you already have a strong technology-based home environment for your child already?
I ask because my daughter did have to adopt a bunch of tech for her kids who like so many other kids can't spend all day in Zoom classrooms and my daughter, who already was working at home 3 days a week, has a high pressure job that requires her total attention when she is working. She bought Apple watches for her kids (age 8 and 7) and a now iMac for the family room. Good tools to have regardless, but big expense that had to happen quickly.
Her kids are very physically active. One especially is not so bookish. But with school and playing outside with other kids so curtailed, he had not developed any quiet or study habit patterns outside of the routines developed by his school. Home time now dominates the day and he was frankly unprepared.
Also with more than one kid there is the issue of sharing - "hey it's my turn now. No fair!" So the parent has to get up from working and sort it out.
noemi | 2020-10-20 09:52:57 UTC | #22
If you are interested and want to join the event comment here. Share your experience or a question regarding childcare for freeelnacers and remote workers:
I am not a parent (yet!), but I am a perennial online worker and I would also like to learn how to better manage teams where people are parenting and working online. Not many speak openly about the possibilities and constraints that this offers them.
And recently I witnessed a debate on facebook around this article about how in fact single parents might be discriminated against at the workplace by being expected to perform more. It was strange to see people jumping in and say 'hey, but I thought parents are discriminated - women in particular don't get more opportunities because they are considered to be not on the career path anymore'. From the different bubble we are in, things look so differently! It never ceases to amaze me.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90564837/we-need-to-talk-about-the-bias-against-childfree-employees?partner=rss&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss&fbclid=IwAR2HPB8TCd7-0ijkByjbHWw1q8YJBAdpcDY8coLNss3LSOFtqin42d2d5Og
MariaEuler | 2020-10-20 10:01:37 UTC | #23
@noemi, this is an interesting and relevant point. To help parents should not devalue those who for what ever reason are non parents. Therefore it is important to work on the communication and understanding of "improvements of the system are for everyone". The oriciples of inclusive design are that if you explore and solve problems for extrem cases, you can generate solutions that are better for everyone.
Let's look at this through an inclusive design lense.
MariaEuler | 2020-10-20 10:03:14 UTC | #24
Example questions we would like to address tomorrow contributed by our ethnographer @katejsim:
- Were you always working remotely? If not, when and how did you decide to work remotely?
- Tell us about a moment you felt proud as a parent because your ability to work remotely helped you be present/provide for your child/ren.
- Working from home saves you time and space, but it also means that everything is brought together. What kind of boundaries do you have to set with yourself? With your children/family? With your colleagues?
- What trade-offs do you make as remote workers with children?
hires | 2020-10-20 10:46:49 UTC | #25
Great and important topic!
[quote="johncoate, post:3, topic:14530"] if you have a kid at home and you work from home, how much time do you need to spend helping him, her or them occupy themselves in mutually satisfying ways and what technology do you use (try to) to accomplish it? [/quote]
I think the amount of technology to it really depends on the age of the child. Speaking personally, our daughter is 2 years old, so she needs a lot of attention, it's almost impossible to leave her alone except for the odd 5-10 minutes she's entertaining herself. So during this pandemic when child care was closed, really only one person in the household can get meaningful work done. We made up for it by working around her schedule (early early morning and late nights), but it is challenging to say the least.
Technology can help keep her occupied, and letting her watch videos on the ipad is something she loves and regularly asks for, but everytime I do it, I feel like a failed parent. If she was older, I think this feeling would not be so strong, but as she is still a toddler, we try to keep her away from screens as much as is possible.
Today we're lucky that child care is back, but of course it's only a matter of time that the children will be sent to home quarantine for a few days or weeks. This is looming over everything, so we try to count our blessings now to be ready when that happens.
I'd be very curious to hear how others with children in this age range use technology around their children. Am I perhaps too much of a luddite when I try to strictly limit screentime? Are there other solutions we have not thought about?
[quote="MariaEuler, post:23, topic:14530"] Therefore it is important to work on the communication and understanding of “improvements of the system are for everyone”. [/quote]
Yes, thank you! I also think it's important to understand who is not part of this discussion, whether those with the most difficulties around child care will have the hardest time to join this conversation, and how best to represent those.
AnaSofiaCorreia | 2020-10-20 14:20:03 UTC | #26
Looking forward to this event!
MariaEuler | 2020-10-20 14:35:18 UTC | #27
Will send out the first wave of emails with the zoom link later this evening. A second wave follows tomorrow for late sign-ups 1h before the event.
noemi | 2020-10-20 15:46:47 UTC | #28
got it, thanks !
augusto | 2020-10-20 17:17:36 UTC | #29
If you are interested and want to join the event comment here. Share your experience or a question regarding childcare for freelancers and remote workers:
We are a couple of freelancers, during lockdown we split our days, so to have one of us available for our daughter (2 years old).
We could afford to work half a day each, and also business was really slow during lockdown. It was really exhausting but we were able to never leave our daughter in front of a screen.
MariaEuler | 2020-10-20 19:51:23 UTC | #30
Ping @federico_monaco is this topic maybe also interesting for you?
johncoate | 2020-10-20 20:28:08 UTC | #31
Also, make sure your kids can go outside to play: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/14/greener-play-areas-boost-childrens-immune-systems-research-finds
Alessandro | 2020-10-20 22:02:13 UTC | #32
If you are interested and want to join the event comment here. Share your experience or a question regarding childcare for freelancers and remote workers:
When one cannot safely rely on kindergarten, not even on relatives without putting them somewhat at risk, what else is left for parents besides taking turns (if they are lucky to still be together) and ...well, working less?
I'll be curious to see what options we may be missing, and also to ask about the potential bad effects of this blurred work/life space and time on children.
Ana_Catarina | 2020-10-21 12:56:50 UTC | #33
Hi! I'm Ana Catarina Lopes. I'm one of the panellists.
Vann | 2020-10-21 12:58:06 UTC | #34
Hi. I'm Vann, one of the panelists today. I'm happy to answer any questions!
C.schmitz | 2020-10-21 13:01:37 UTC | #35
HI, I am Christian, one of the panelist too. Lets connect and talk about tech and Childcare. In case you would like to reach out please connect on linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-schmitz-01b7a969/
Best Christian
JonHurley | 2020-10-21 12:59:44 UTC | #36
If you are interested and want to join the event comment here. Share your experience or a question regarding childcare for freelancers and remote workers:
Even if I was in a recording booth with a big red light on, they would still come in the room to tell me something pointless.
Vann | 2020-10-21 14:08:35 UTC | #37
I was on an important video call earlier, and they all burst in, and I gave the casual "wave" out, but they kept talking, so I gave a stronger wave, followed by a glare, then a mute and a "GET OUT!!".
When I spoke to them after they were like "but we needed to tell you... Cato didn't have a chocolate this morning".
MariaEuler | 2020-10-21 14:11:56 UTC | #38
Thank you everyone for todays conversation!
there were some great and interesting point raised and lots of topics I would like to continue discussing here:
- Examples for how to set and communicate boundaries @Ine Wilems and @Ana_Catarina
- The positive shift of it becoming more acceptable to have a visible familylive as a professional. @Vann
- Technology for children and how it's role is a different one for this new generation with low entry barrier apps. "why a developer decides against a tablet for his/her child". And if there are other examples of positive applications or uses where you actually feel like your children are learning? And how much screen time do you consider appropriate? @Vann
- Examples of including childcare in coworking @Amparo Fuentes
- How technology can support new living and childcare models? What is beeing developed already? What are those models? What happens if you let your imagination run wild? @C.schmitz
will turn those soon in their own threads and ask some of you to comment on them :)
MariaEuler | 2020-10-21 14:15:16 UTC | #39
A short summary of the discussion will follow in a few days
MariaEuler | 2020-10-21 14:17:17 UTC | #40
thank you for joining the conversation here. sadly it was too late to send you a link to the call. but please tell us more about your experiences with large red lights that are not accepted and I hope the summary will be interesting for you.
hires | 2020-10-21 14:17:51 UTC | #41
Our kid is on 75% of the calls I have when she's home - at some point she just comes in, closed door or not (it doesn't lock).
In some way, I'm glad to see people's reaction to it. It's a little bit like looking at how people treat the waiter or staff to understand whether this is a person I'd like to be working with.
Of course there's also times I need to keep her out, e.g. when I'm giving a presentation or when I need to be super focused because I'm moderating. In those cases I actually block the door with something heavy.. :)
johncoate | 2020-10-21 18:00:52 UTC | #42
It’s a little bit like looking at how people treat the waiter or staff to understand whether this is a person I’d like to be working with.
(Side note: has anyone made a personnel decision based on this? I have. I was in New York meeting the new owners of my SF Gate site and at lunch the guy i would most work with was outright mean, though with a toothy grin, to the nice woman serving us and I made the decision to myself that I did not want to work with that guy. And I didn't.)
Vann | 2020-10-25 05:46:17 UTC | #43
Hey @MariaEuler - somebody has just asked me if they could view a recording of it. Is one available?
MariaEuler | 2020-10-26 10:23:32 UTC | #44
Hello @Vann, we can not share the whole recording, but we will soon publish a writeup.
Alessandro | 2020-10-28 06:28:41 UTC | #45
[quote="hires, post:25, topic:14530"] I’d be very curious to hear how others with children in this age range use technology around their children [/quote]
Handheld devices are a big no for me. It very seldom happens, and it's never me giving it to him because I'd rather he does anything else but that. Our 2.5yo is allowed 30 minutes of cartoons, on the big TV, and even that stops if he stands too near the screen. I think being a luddite is, in this case, the right thing for small kids.
We are lucky that he is very active and stops caring about videos after a while anyway, and that he likes puzzles a lot so that's a better alternative for self-entertainment.
It is tricky though, because of the examples we set: with remote work, and myself being possibly mildly addicted to the internet, we tend to spend a lot of time on screens, and he sees that.
[quote="johncoate, post:31, topic:14530"] Also, make sure your kids can go outside to play [/quote]
And this is when I really miss living in a small village surrounded by hills, woods, and the Tuscan countryside... Outside we both are much more peaceful, and easy access to nature really makes me want to stay outside as much as possible. Yerevan doesn't fit that bill I'm afraid.
hires | 2020-10-28 14:34:29 UTC | #46
[quote="Alessandro, post:45, topic:14530"] It is tricky though, because of the examples we set: with remote work, and myself being possibly mildly addicted to the internet, we tend to spend a lot of time on screens, and he sees that. [/quote]
That's really a worry for me too.. especially because she does not understand what we do but only that we are looking at a screen (Just thinking of things like setting a timer while I'm cooking or adding something to a calendar).
I try to think of it in a similar way to other aspects of life, that it's more important to model a behavior (whether it's how much tech to use, or what kind of food we eat, or how we treat others around us) than to police (seemingly arbitrary) "rules".
johncoate | 2020-10-28 16:55:45 UTC | #47
I have seen toddlers go into an iPhone, select the photo app, then scroll through the photos by correctly swiping - before they could even talk.
katerinabc | 2020-10-29 18:52:03 UTC | #48
Thanks for sharing your experience. It's the same scenario in my house.
katerinabc | 2020-10-29 18:58:29 UTC | #49
A couple of weeks ago, I engaged with someone on twitter who raised the issue of employer's perspective on parents as humans. The question was: Do employers have now a different view of combining parenting and working? We were discussing if the exposure to the "parenting side" of an employee made companies (managers, HR etc) gain a deeper understanding of the struggles and therefore adopt a more parent-friendly approach.
What do you think?
MariaEuler | 2020-10-29 21:02:04 UTC | #50
@Vann certainly brought up this point during the event. The existence of children around a professional existence seems to get more accepted. (I am still working on the event summary.)
johncoate | 2020-10-30 15:45:47 UTC | #51
The burden is of course all the greater for the working parent who still has to deliver the work, and on time.
federico_monaco | 2020-10-31 08:43:45 UTC | #52
During the lockdown i was questioning myself of a possible paradigm to analyse the smart working condition while parenting. I converted a whole room to a kind of Montessori lab with paper, glue, fabric, wood sticks, leaves, etc.. for my daughter and put some limits to smartwork shift in order to combine the two situations. Hope this schema helps the discussion with this little game.. Where would you set yourself and your child according to different age and kind of work? 
johncoate | 2020-11-02 18:23:52 UTC | #53
My daughter would be dead center. Luckily for them the kids have outdoor space so they can run around some. Being in an apartment must be tough.
MariaEuler | 2020-12-08 09:30:23 UTC | #54
Our next AMA is quite relavnt to this topic:
On the 9th of December 18:30 to 19:30 psychologist Erik Bohjort joins for an AMA.
- Would you wish you could change your own behaviour sometimes?
- Are you wondering how much technology is actually ok for your children, and if and how they can learn with digital tools?
- Are you developing an app, website, project to change and improve the world, and want to know how to best influence behaviour or how to nudge?
- Do you have your own insights and/or issues (2020 has been hard on everyone...) you just really would like to discuss with a psychologist?
Then you are in luck!
Erik (@Bohjort) is a Psychologist at PBM working in the field of Behavioural Insights. His background also includes experience as the Head of Research at Gimi AB (an educational FinTech application to teach financial literacy to children) and as a Psychologist at Akademiska Sjukhuset in the Neuropsychiatric Unit.
His research explores topics such as:
Behaviour change, Digital education, Behavioural insights, Nudging, Psychology
For one hour he will be available to answer all of your questions and engage in discussions, conversations and maybe even a bit of therapy with you.
Register here to get a reminder before the event and join the AMA chat.
The live chat will happen here, where Erik personally introduced himself:
https://edgeryders.eu/t/i-m-erik-bohjort-psychologist-nudger-and-digital-behaviour-change-enthusiast-ask-me-anything-about-behaviour-psychology-and-tech/15076
MariaEuler | 2021-03-24 16:27:09 UTC | #55
To everyone who had joined this session last year:
Our ethnographer team has launched a question about how employers deal with applicants and the effects of that on our perception of time, work and self-worth.
Your insights and opinions on that would be very welcome!
https://edgeryders.eu/t/have-you-ever-been-led-on-or-ghosted-by-a-prospective-employer/15571
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