Childcare fees up £3,000 per year as working families face cost of living crisis
Annual childcare fees for kids aged under two have rocketed by almost £3,000 in the past decade, research shows today.
Average monthly full-time nursery bills have leapt to more than £1,000 in every English region – and will soon reach £2,000 in some, the Trades Unions Congress revealed.
The TUC said an estimated 1.7 million women are prevented from taking on more hours at work because of childcare issues – resulting in a loss of up to £28.2billion in economic output each year.
Calling for universal free childcare for pre-school children as nursery bills soar, general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “High-quality childcare should be affordable for all parents – it’s how we keep women in work and close the gender pay gap.
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Jess Hurd)
“But in this cost-of-living emergency, working families are spending more and more of their pay packets on childcare bills while their wages stagnate.
“This is putting huge stress on family budgets at the same time as other living costs are shooting up.”
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “It’s clear the Conservatives are failing children and families alike.
Many kids are having to go without hygiene essentials, say teachers
A new survey* of teachers reveals that the rising cost of living means more UK children will be going back to school without access to basic hygiene essentials. This can leave them feeling embarrassed, unwilling to participate fully in the classroom or PE lessons, and more likely to avoid socialising with other kids.
Easy access to basic toiletries such as soap, deodorant and period products means children are more likely to come into school feeling confident and ready to get stuck into lessons. That’s why Boots has donated an additional 50,000 products to charity The Hygiene Bank to support children going back to school.
You can help too. Boots has set up convenient drop off points in more than 500 of its stores where anyone can donate any full unopened products, with period products, deodorant and shower gel the most in-demand items for school-aged children. For every 1kg donated, Boots will match it with another full-size product. Find out more on boots.com.
*Survey by One Poll of 500 UK primary and secondary teachers July 26-August 1, 2022. The Hygiene Bank is a registered charity in England and Wales number: 1181267 and Scotland: SC049895
“The soaring cost of childcare is a huge drain on family budgets.
“Yet the Tories have spent a whole summer arguing amongst themselves with no plan to support families and tackle spiralling costs, while Labour has set out how we would freeze energy bills for all domestic customers, saving families £1,000.”
A Government spokesman said: “We recognise working families with children are facing price rises due to global inflationary pressures.
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“We are doing more to support families with over £37billion to help households most in need through the Household Support Fund. We have also set out plans to ensure high-quality and affordable childcare is accessible to all and will be considering the responses to the consultation once it closes.
“Alongside this, we have spent more than £4bn in each of the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare.
“The number of childcare places available remains stable, as it has since 2015, and thousands of parents are benefitting from this support.”
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