Parents ditch children at libraries in lieu of daycare

Libraries are being inundated with unsupervised children during the school holidays.

Clendon woman Therese Luxton said her local library is teeming with unsupervised kids who have been dropped off by parents who can't afford childcare.

She said she met a "very frazzled" librarian who said they were being used as a free babysitting service. Children had come without food and the librarians had not budgeted for food.

"After returning to the library with bags of feijoas I was met at the library door, by an unattended little chap who was all of six," Luxton said.

"He asked for a bag with no hesitation at all and took it by himself with a bag on his back."

Luxton believed this was the consequence of expensive child-minding which resulted in the over-extension of a community facility having to double as a social agency.

The Herald called another Auckland City library who said the problem was rampant but she did not want to speak in light of a funding cut and restructuring.

A Kaikohe library employee said that they used to have a big problem but they put a stop to it last year. Now they ask for ID and tell the parents that their children must be supervised.

"It used to be pretty bad. We're not a daycare, we're a library."

Otele Etuale brought his daughters Imeleta, 6, and Malaea, 7, to the library for a read.

He said he would never send his kids there without a supervisor.

"I don't trust anyone with my children."

Otele Etuale brought his daughters Malaea, 7, and Imeleta, 6, to Te Matariki Clendon Library during the school holidays. Photo / Sarah Harris

The Herald spent some time at Te Matariki Clendon Library and observed most children were supervised inside. But outside at the skatepark there were over 20 children and one adult. Kids as young as 7 said they were there alone. Most seemed to be among friends.

When asked if they used the library unsupervised as well, they replied yes.

The solo adult, who only wanted to be known as Ash, said he always accompanied his children who are aged 12, 11, 6 and 5.

"Sometimes there's trouble down here. The other kids might steal their bikes."

Ash has seen kids younger than 5 come without a parent, but they are often with siblings. He thought some parents used the place as a daycare, and kids use it to get away from troubled homes.

"It's pretty sad. A lot of kids get up to mischief. Before you know it they're tagging the park.

"It sucks."

Te Matariki Clendon Community Centre and Library manager could not comment as she did not get sign-off from her supervisor.

A police spokesperson said a person can be fined up to $2000 for leaving a child aged under 14 unattended under conditions that are unreasonable.

Auckland Libraries spokesman Greg Morgan said they had not had reports of unsupervised children being a particular issue this holidays. He advised caregivers to not leave children aged under 14 unaccompanied.

Child Poverty Action Group co-convenor Janfrie Wakim said abandoning children at libraries was the mark of desperate parents trying to survive.

Parents who have little flexibility at work are forced to rely on family support. Otherwise they need to find appropriate care, if they can't afford it libraries are a last resort, Wakim said.

"Libraries are full of sympathetic people, kids love them and they become a magnet.

"Parents absolutely need to do that work in order to survive."

Wakim believed this was part of a larger issue where Government policy was work-focused rather than child-focused.

"There is this whole problem with how we care for children all of the time, not simply during working hours.

"Women have moved into the workforce but the care of the child has not been thought through in the same way that's helpful for children."

An example of this was the Working for Families in-work tax credit of $72.50 where a solo parent must work 20 hours a week or a couple can work 30 hours a week between them.

Wakim is calling for that tax credit to be extended to all low-income families, regardless if they meet the minimum work requirement or not.

"If you're a young mum and you've got two school-aged children and you're working 20 hours a week during the holiday it's going to be tight.

"Having this extra income to support families during school holidays is vital."