A dad could face a childcare bill of more than £9,000 as nursery costs soar.
The dad, whose children go to Oxton House Day Nursery on the Wirral, approached the ECHO worried that rising prices could put further pressure on family budgets including his own.
Parents were notified that the Oxton nursery costs were going to rise by 12% - or an extra £81 a month - from April. The dad, who did not want to be identified, currently pays £680 a month for the childcare which is £8,160 a year. With the added costs, this will be more than £9,100.
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The nursery is run by Just Childcare, which manages a number of nurseries across the North West. The nursery said its operating costs had gone up by nearly 20%, driven partly by gas prices more than doubling.
The dad said he understands why the nursery needs to raise prices but wanted to raise awareness of the costs facing parents. He has written to all four Wirral MPs about the issue too.
He said: “We are going to have to make major cut backs and adding more work hours. I do about seven days a week anyway or we’ll have to cut back on other things like food bills or things like gym memberships.
“I know we are one of the lucky few and I have the ability to work more hours but there are others who will really want that £80 for food. We’ll have to sort of switch to a work to survive situation now rather than a working to live scenario.”
Chris Conchie, Commercial Director at Just Childcare said: “Over the last 12 months, operating costs across our nurseries have increased by almost 20%, most notably with gas up 129%, and electricity 67%.
“Despite these external pressures, government support and funding for the early years simply isn’t reflecting the need we are facing due to the current climate, and the proposed increase to funding for 2023/24 sits well under the rate of inflation.
“Maintaining our current high level of quality and care for our children and staff has to be our priority, and the demands we are facing means that in order to do so we have been left with no alternative other than to introduce a fee increase at some of our nurseries.
"We understand our families are also facing difficult times due to the cost of living, and we have worked hard to ensure this increase is kept to a minimum whilst continuing to meet parents’ expectations.”
Wirral Council provides free childcare for children under two every week of the year while parents of three and four year old children can get free care for 38 weeks per year. Other help can be found on the council's website.
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