Overview
Many families in Britain face challenges when it comes to finding and paying for holiday childcare over the summer.
This annual Holiday Childcare Cost Survey, the 14th in its series, found that the plummeting availability of childcare places and rising prices will create serious problems for parents across the country as they look to juggle their childcare needs with work during the upcoming school holidays.
Despite efforts by the government to make childcare more affordable, this report shows that the average cost of holiday childcare gone up by 7.8% in the last 12 months across the UK. A week of holiday childcare now costs £123.49.
And in many places there just isn’t enough childcare. 87% of English and 95% of Welsh local authorities admitted that they do not have adequate provision to meet the demand from parents. In Scotland, only three were able to supply enough places and over a third lacked even the relevant data to assess the situation in their areas. It was also found that the gaps have gone up dramatically since last year.
The Family and Childcare Trust wants to see government and local authorities take strong action to make sure that children can enjoy their summer breaks and parents can go to work.