EXCERPTS
Childcare fees for working parents have risen three times faster than wages in the past decade, according to the Trades Union Congress.
Costs have gone up by 52% per week since 2008 for families with a full-time and a part-time working parent, despite government initiatives. The earnings of these parents have increased by 17%.
Lone parents were faring worse, the TUC analysis found, with childcare costs for a single mother or father working full-time having risen seven times faster than earnings.
Childcare in England costs an average of £236 a week for a child under the age of two in nursery, compared with £159 in 2008. The cost is £232 a week for a child over two, compared with £149 10 years ago.
The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “Working parents have seen childcare fees rocket, as their wages have stagnated.
“Despite government support, families still face eye-watering nursery bills. Britain’s cost of living crisis is having a huge impact on working mums and dads.”
The West Midlands was the area where nursery fees for families with a full-time and a part-time working parent had outstripped wages the most, followed by the south-east and the north-east.
Examples of bills included £4,700 a year paid by a family on average earnings, with one parent working full-time and another part-time, for a three-year-old and a one-year-old child.
A single parent on average earnings, working full-time, was paying just over £6,000 for the same coverage.
The TUC made a number of recommendations, including subsidised childcare that would start as soon as maternity leave finishes, as well as more government funding for local authorities to provide nurseries and childcare.
It also called for a greater role for employers in funding childcare and an increase to childcare support provided by tax credits and universal credit.
The government’s flagship childcare policy currently offers 30 free hours at nursery for three and four-year-olds, although nurseries have long complained that the hourly rates paid by the government are too low.
Last year, a tax-free childcare initiative launched, designed to replace the voucher system by giving eligible families up to £2,000 free per child towards costs.
The TUC analysis was undertaken by the economic research consultancy Landman Economics, based on data provided by the charity Coram Family and Childcare.
Ellen Broome, Coram’s chief executive, said: “Successive governments have rightfully invested in childcare but, while this investment has been welcomed, many parents remain frozen out of work because of high childcare costs.
“We know that high-quality childcare boosts children’s outcomes, benefits the economy and allows parents to make genuine choices about work and care. But in the last year alone, childcare costs have risen by 7%. Urgent action is needed to make sure all parents are better off working after paying for childcare.”