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A large survey run by a coalition of organisations shows overwhelming anger at the high costs of childcare.
Parents overwhelmingly believe childcare is too expensive and that the Government doesn’t support families enough with the costs and availability of childcare, according to a large survey by a range of organisations.
The survey of over 20,000 UK parents, the vast majority of them women, run by a coalition of parenting and campaigning groups, including the TUC, Pregnant Then Screwed and Mumsnet, found 97% said that UK childcare is too expensive (83% said that it is ‘much’ too expensive); and 96% said the UK government doesn’t support parents enough with the cost and availability of childcare.
A third of parents using childcare say their childcare payments are bigger than their rent or mortgage. This rises to 47% of those with a Black ethnic background, 42% of those receiving Universal Credit, 40% of the under-30s, 38% of single parents and 38% of those who work full time. Half of parents who used childcare said that paying for it had either had a significant impact on their family’s standard of living or was just completely unaffordable. This rises to 63% of single parents.
94% of parents who changed their working patterns after having children say childcare costs were a factor in that decision and 73% said they had had difficulty finding appropriate childcare that met their needs. This figures includes 83% of C2DE parents, 80% of single parents and 80% of those from a BAME background.
66% of women who were in paid employment when they became pregnant had reduced their working hours since becoming a parent, compared with just 26% of men who were in paid employment when they became a parent.
The survey found parents are looking for radical solutions to the childcare crisis:
68% of parents say Shared Parental Leave has not been helpful for their family, or that they don’t understand it. However, men are much more likely to say that is has been helpful, with 36% of dads saying it helped their family, compared with 16% of mothers.
Almost 100% (99%) of all parents agree that childcare should be recognised as a vital part of our economic and social infrastructure, and invested in accordingly.
56% of parents who use childcare of any type say they use grandparents as a form of childcare, making grandparents the second most common form of childcare in the UK after private nurseries (used by 75% of parents).