Cost of childcare is more than women's wages, analysis shows

‘Exorbitant’ cost of childcare is more than women’s wages in further blow to cost of living, analysis shows

  • Cost of living crisis has seen energy bills skyrocket – while wages stagnate
  • Childcare fees have soared during pandemic after nurseries were forced to shut 
  • And families are now paying £12.52 an hour for an after-school club or activity 

Childcare costs outstrip women’s average wages in six out of nine English regions, analysis has revealed.

With families experiencing a cost of living crisis, campaigners say more needs to be done to help with the ‘exorbitant’ fees.

Research by Labour found that families are paying £12.52 an hour for an after-school club or activity.

This is just less than the average woman’s salary in England which stands at just £12.93 an hour, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

With families experiencing a cost of living crisis, campaigners say more needs to be done to help with the ‘exorbitant’ fees [File photo]

And it is almost one pound an hour more than a woman’s wage in the North East (£11.54).

The costs are also higher than the median hourly salary in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands and the South West.

Only mothers in London, the South East and East of England – where women earn £16.96, £13.33 and £12.59 an hour respectively – can expect to take home more money than they pay in childcare costs. 

It comes amid a cost of living crisis which has seen energy bills and grocery prices skyrocket – while wages stagnate.

Labour’s education spokesman Bridget Phillipson said: ‘With the general cost of living spiralling, we need action from the Government to address the childcare crisis.

‘I don’t believe any mothers or fathers – though it usually is mothers – should have to make the choice to give up work just to spare exorbitant childcare costs.’

Childcare fees have soared during the pandemic after nurseries were forced to shut from March 2020 – taking in only children of key workers during lockdowns.

A Coram Family and Childcare Trust survey found the cost of a part-time nursery place – 25 hours a week – for a child under two rose by 4 per cent between 2020 and 2021. It now stands at £7,160 a year. Meanwhile, the average cost of a part-time childminder for a child under two is £6,150 a year.

Campaigning group Pregnant Then Screwed estimates there are 870,000 stay-at-home mothers in the UK who want to go back to work but cannot afford to.

Founder Joeli Brearley said: ‘It is unfair that women have to give up careers they have worked hard for. The Government needs to urgently address the childcare crisis.’

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