Childcare costs so high that uk families are not worth working

Family and childcare trust report finds that some kindergarten costs increased by a third in five years, making it cheaper for a parent to stay home to take care of children

Childcare is so expensive now that families are increasingly better off when a parent gives up work to take care of their offspring new Report found.

The cost of shipping a toddler to part-time kindergarten increased by around a third in the past five Years with parents now forced to pay an average of £ 6,000 a year – £ 1,533 more than in 2010.

Despite heavy government spending on childcare, gaps in the survey also revealed. In addition, for the first time, Britain’s poorest families are having to find substantial sums of money to cover the shortfall between part-time childcare costs and the maximum amount of help they are entitled to under working tax credits.

"The reality is that for too many families, it is simply not worth working," Castle of the family and childcare trust in their annual childcare costs survey 2015.

It now costs around £ 115.45 on average to send a child under two years of age to kindergarten for 25 hours a week in the UK totaling £ 6,003 a year. This is an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous year.

Taking into account the distribution of the population, the price for a part-time kindergarten place for the under two rose by 32.8% over the term of the last parliament. The cost of part-time childcare for an infant is up 4.3% over the last year, averaging £ 104.06 a week or £ 5,411 a year.

The survey also found part-time kindergarten prices for children ages two and above rose by 4.1% to £ 109.83 per week on average by 2.5% to £ 103.04 although a childminder for this age group.

For the first time outside of London, some low-income parents find that the maximum amount of childcare assistance they can claim will leave them out of their own pocket of at least £ 52.50 a week.

According to the report, there are two reasons for the rise in prices for under two: in England, kindergartens and child minders, their prices have to be kept low during the recession, and parents are subsidizing government free places for underprivileged two-year-olds.

The survey also found that the problem of inadequate childcare is not getting any worse, with only 43% of councils in England fulfilling their legal childcare obligations for working parents, with 54% getting past last year.

The report suggests three reasons for the decline in care last year: 382,000 women got back to work between September through November last year, while places for older children may have hollowed out at the expense of the increased number of places for two-year-olds, and those two-year-olds who qualify for free early education in particular.

A department for education spokesman said the report "we are neglecting the record amount of fully financed childcare. Based on FCT numbers, our free eligibility for the eligible average family saves £ 2,500 per year for each child."

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, acknowledged that the cost of childcare was borne. He promised that his party would offer 15 hours a week free of charge for all two-year-olds and for the children of working parents between the ages of nine months and two years.

The Labor Party said its own research shows that costs have increased by more than 33% in more than one in four local authorities in England.

Alison McGovern, Labor Shadow Secretary for children, Labor said that Labor proposed expanding free childcare for working parents of three- and four-year-olds from the current 15 hours to 25 hours a week, as well as providing at least 50,000 more childcare services by doubling the number provided by Sure Start Centers.

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