Abstract:

The cost of childcare has received a lot of attention recently but our research has shown that parents face additional practical difficulties when using childcare. This report examines these difficulties and the impact they are having on allowing more parents to work and more children to get a good quality early education.

Key findings:

• 90% of providers required payment in advance and nearly 60% require this monthly.
• 75% of providers did not provide care in the evenings or at weekends.
• Nearly 60% of providers required a month or more notice to change or end arrangements - higher quality providers were less flexible.