Pregnant women say they are being forced to consider an abortion due to the soaring cost of childcare.
New figures released by charity Pregnant then Screwed say nearly one in five women had terminated a pregnancy they wanted because they felt they would be unable to keep up with costs.
The stat comes as inflation soared to a 40-year high in July, while workers’ living standards dropped in May.
Coram Family and Childcare also reported last month that families will have to fork out nearly £900 for six weeks of childcare over the summer holidays, marking an estimated five per cent rise on last year.
This, coupled with the cost-of-living crisis that's gripping the nation, which includes soaring electric, food and petrol costs, means some mums-to-be are put in a difficult position.
A mum-of-one, who remained anonymous, told the charity she "found it heartbreaking" she had to have an abortion "primarily because we could not afford the cost of childcare."
She added: "If I had continued my pregnancy of a much-wanted child I would have had to quit my job to care for them.
"This would have meant we had to sell our home as one salary would not cover the bills. This would have been detrimental to my one child.
"The system is a shambles and it is so upsetting. It is horrendous that myself and my husband are both professionals, yet we cannot afford a second child due to the first years of their life requiring childcare."
Pregnant then Screwed's figures showed that 60.5 per cent say that the cost of childcare influenced their decision to have an abortion and 17.4 per cent of women said that childcare costs were the main reason they chose to have an abortion.
The data was worse for Black women with 76 per cent of Black women and 70 per cent of mixed race women stating that the cost had influenced their decision.
76 per cent of single parents also said that childcare costs had been a factor in their consideration to terminate their pregnancy.
The survey also revealed that of 28,000 women who already had a child or children, 62 per cent said that childcare costs were either the main reason, or a factor in their decision, not to have more children.
One in four also stated that it was the key reason they didn’t have more children.
Meanwhile, Jessica, a student nurse, says she and her partner have lost £20,000 towards a house deposit because of the cost of childcare, which has left her struggling to feed her son.
She says she also missed hours on placement or at university as she can't afford to put her son in nursery, which she claims is negatively impacting her prospect of getting a job when she graduates.
"I am studying with full time hours and my partner works 45 hours a week," she told the MEN.
"Our household income is not great but I don't qualify for any childcare help this academic year.
"We get £227 for the whole academic year to cover five days a week of childcare at £54 a day. We get no Universal Credit, no free hours or tax free childcare because I'm a student so classed as not working."
Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: "Childcare costs are pushing families into poverty and forcing women to terminate wanted pregnancies. This is a crisis and the Government’s response has been wholly inadequate.
"The UK birth rate has hit a record low, a lack of births means a lack of future workers, which poses enormous challenges for our future economy. We know that birth rates are higher in countries that allow women to combine childcare and careers.
"The UK has the most expensive childcare in the OECD as a proportion of women’s earnings, and the recent government proposal to increase ratios will have little to no impact on costs, instead it will only serve to create a lower quality system, further deterring women from using our childcare provision.
"The MPs who have recently shown their disdain for women who terminate a pregnancy are doing little to fix the systems which force them to make this decision."
A government spokesperson said: "We have spent more than £4 billion in each of the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare.
"The number of childcare places available is stable and thousands of parents are benefitting from this support. Many thousands of families are also benefitting from our Holiday Activities and Food programme during the long school holidays.
"We know there are challenges facing the sector, which is why we are increasing funding to support employers with their costs, investing millions in better training for staff working with pre-school children and have set out plans to help providers run their businesses more flexibly."
