Nursery fees ‘to rise by £1,000 this year’ as childcare providers struggle with costs – forcing parents to quit work. Nearly all childcare providers are set to hike prices as they try to cover costs and stay in business.
There are fears it could lead to even more mothers leaving work and some say the government should be providing more help.
Sky News is reporting that the soaring cost of childcare in the UK is revealed in new figures today, suggesting nurseries will raise fees by £1,000 this year.
Nursery Fees to Rise
A survey of 1,156 providers by the Early Years Alliance found nine out of 10 expect to increase fees, typically in April, and by an average of 8% – higher than in previous years.
UK childcare costs are already among the most expensive in the world, with full-time fees for a child under two at nursery reaching an average £269 a week last year – or just under £14,000 annually. An 8% rise would take that to more than £15,000.
Three and four-year-olds in England attending a nursery or childminder are eligible for either 15 or 30 free hours a week depending on whether their parents work, so their costs are a lot lower.
There are different schemes in Wales and Scotland.
But the concern is that by this stage many parents – particularly mothers – have felt forced to drop out of work or cut their hours.
Tory MPs have been pressing the chancellor to take measures to make childcare more affordable in the March budget in order to reduce pressure on families, and enable more women to re-enter the workforce. But an option to extend free hours to all two-year-olds is understood to have been ruled out.
Most nurseries and childminders surveyed – 87% – said the money they get from the government does not cover their costs to provide the “free” hours – leaving them out of pocket.
More than half of providers (51%) said they had operated at a loss last year. A handful said they were looking at fee increases of as much as 25%.
The campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed surveyed 27,000 parents last year and found nearly two thirds paid more for childcare than their rent or mortgage.
Although childcare costs have risen significantly in recent years, many providers are struggling to stay in business – with 5,400 closing their doors in the year to August 2022.