July 11th 2023.
Kids clubs don’t come cheap, and that’s just the start of it. The UK childcare system is the most expensive in Europe, and it’s getting pricier. This year alone, full-time nursery fees have increased by 6% to an average of £14,863. Analysis by SpareMyTime, a virtual personal assistant company, found that families across the country are spending more than 50% to 60% of one parent’s salary on childcare.
For many this figure is much higher: a survey of 24,000 people by the campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed found that 25% of parents were spending 75% of their salary on childcare alone. Plus, a study from children’s charity Theirworld found that childcare costs have forced one in four UK parents to give up their job or drop out of education.
In the school holidays, this only gets worse, with older kids needing to be entertained all day too. More research by Pregnant Then Screwed found that 32% of parents say that childcare over the summer costs the same or more than what they earn. According to SpareMeTime, UK families spend £2,200 per year paying for one child’s care during school holidays throughout the year. Over the six weeks’ summer break, families pay an average of £147.83 per week per child.
Though London has the highest fees in the country, the average parent earns a higher wage. It’s families in Yorkshire, East Midlands and Wales that are experiencing the biggest disparity between their salary and rising childcare costs. Parents are forced to choose between work and childcare, and for Fiona Scott, 38, who is self-employed and married with a three-year-old son, striking this balance is still a struggle.
‘As we are only signed up for term time at my son’s nursery, we end up spending extra during the holidays,’ she tells The Agency. ‘The extra spending goes on Holiday Club at nursery as well as asking our local babysitter to do extra time during the week, so I am able to juggle work but also spend time with my son.’
On the one hand Fiona is grateful for the flexibility of her work life, but on the other, she feels devalued as she is unable to contribute as much financially. ‘I would be lying if I said it didn’t impact my mental wellbeing,’ she says.
For those who don’t have a support network of family and friends who can help with childcare, many parents are literally paying to go back to work, with childcare costing more than they earn. Joel Brearley, CEO and Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, agrees that government policy is needed to provide people with affordable childcare during school holidays.
Fiona would like to see a societal shift towards helping people to raise their children. ‘I hope the old saying “It takes a village” could perhaps come back into play, and as a country we could better support women in the workplace who are trying to return to work,’ she says.
‘At the same time there should be support for fathers who wish to share the role of main caregiver. Women shouldn’t automatically be thought of as the main caregiver and should have the same options in the workplace as men when returning to work after having a baby.’
If we don’t want more children and their parents to fall needlessly into poverty, then we need Government investment to create affordable, flexible and high quality childcare over the holidays. This is the only solution to the childcare crisis in the UK.
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