Almost half of mums reducing working hours as families struggle with childcare costs, LBC can reveal

23 December 2024, 13:33

By Guy Stewart

@Guy_ar_Stewart

Polling by Working Families suggests 60 per cent of families say their finances are stretched by nursery and childcare costs.

The research also revealed 40% of working mums are asking bosses for fewer hours in order to look after children, while one in 10 of them are quitting work altogether.

Many nurseries are expected to increase their fees from April 2025 when employer national insurance contributions and the national living wage increase.

It raises fresh questions for the Labour government, after the Early Years Alliance said increased funding rates would not “even come close” to covering the cost of decisions made in the Budget.

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Now, Working Families has told LBC its research shows many parents are already struggling, with lower-income families and single parents facing the biggest burden.

Plus, because staffing costs make up 75% of nurseries’ overheads, it means parents are likely to bear the burden of tax and wage increases.

The charity’s chief executive, Jane van Zyl, said: “We know that early years and childcare providers are struggling with inflation and higher energy costs, and the recent changes in the budget are not actually going to alleviate that.

“The existing funding rates don't fully cover delivery costs and of course parents on the lowest incomes really struggle to access formal childcare.

“So, it’s still going to be the case that access to, and use of early education settings is strongly determined by household income.”

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Next year, Labour is expanding the amount of government-funded childcare for eligible parents.

It means mums and dads will be able to claim 30 hours of childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year, for children aged nine months, until they start school.

The Government has announced an additional £75 million expansion grant for 2025 to support the delivery of its expanded childcare programme.

But Ms van Zyl said there were still significant problems because 30 hours would not cover the entire week for parents working full time.

She added: “Most people are working somewhere between 35 and 40 hours a week. Particularly for people on lower incomes, they are not working remotely from home, most of them are having to go to work.”

Working Families spoke to LBC ahead of the publication of its annual survey of around 3,000 parents.

An estimated 30% are having to use their savings to cover nursery and childcare fees, with 20% of parents falling into debt.

According to Coram Family and Childcare, in 2024, the average cost for a part-time nursery place for a child under two years old was £158 per week.

A government spokesperson said: “The government is committed to breaking the link between children’s background and what they can go on to achieve, and an accessible, affordable early years system that gives every child the best start in life is critical to that aim.

“That’s why despite having to take tough decisions to fix the foundations of the economy, we are raising early years funding by over £2 billion next year as we roll out 30 hours of government-funded childcare for working parents including an unprecedented uplift in funding for providers looking after the most disadvantaged children.”

“We will continue to work closely with the sector to make sure the funded childcare hours remain fair and accessible to all parents.”