Childcare costs prevent parents from working

More than a quarter of low-income parents are unable to work because of childcare costs, according to a YouGov survey.

The survey, carried out on behalf of Save the Children, found 28 per cent of parents on incomes lower than £15,000, could not afford to work.
Douglas Hamilton, head of policy and research at Save the Children, said parents often have to quit work to look after their children. He said: “The costs of childcare are so high that by going to work parents lose more money than they make. The majority of parents in poverty want to work, but with no-one to look after their children, they can’t.”

The children’s charity is calling on the government to introduce £100 grants for children from poor families to help fund holiday childcare. YouGov’s findings coincide with a Daycare Trust report that found the cost of holiday childcare in Great Britain rose by almost ten per cent in the past year, to a weekly average of almost £88.