Women say they are being forced to consider having an abortion due to the soaring cost of childcare.
Heartbreaking statistics released by the charity Pregnant then Screwed have revealed nearly one in five women have terminated their pregnancy due to the cost of childcare, with six in ten women saying it influenced their decision.
It comes as the average cost of putting a child in nursery part-time in 2022 rose to over £7,000, up by 2.5 per cent for children under the age of two from last year, according to Coram Family and Childcare.
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One woman, who asked not be named, said she had to make the painful decision to have an abortion as she couldn't afford the cost of childcare alongside her other young child.
"I have found it heartbreaking that I have had to have an abortion primarily because we could not afford the cost of childcare. If I had continued my pregnancy of a much wanted child I would have had to quit my job to care for them," she said.
"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."
In a survey, Pregnant then Screwed spoke to 1,630 women who have had an abortion in the last five years, with 60 per cent saying that the cost of childcare influenced their decision. Around 17 per cent of women said that childcare costs were the main reason they chose to terminate their pregnancy.
The picture was bleaker for Black women, with 76 per cent stating that the cost had influenced their decision. And 76 per cent of single parents said the price of childcare had been a factor in their decision to have an abortion.
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.
Jessica is a student nurse and 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.
"I am studying with full time hours and my partner works 45 hours a week. 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."
Jessica claims she has missed hours on placement or at university as she can't afford to put her son in nursery, which she says is negatively impacting her prospect of getting a job when she graduates.
"We are drowning in debt and struggling to feed our son and are unable to afford basics such as petrol, food and utilities," she admitted.
"Before I started this degree the cost was doable. But with inflation and the cost of living soaring we are crippling. I've had to go back on antidepressants because I just can't cope anymore. We are being pushed into poverty.
"We've already lost our house deposit - £20,000 of savings gone on basics and childcare because we simply could not survive on our incomes. This government need to get their act together and help."
The survey comes ahead of the school summer holidays, which start next week, and are expected to cost working parents nearly £900 on average - around £500 more per child than during school time.
A report based on surveys from local authorities across the UK also highlighted the patchy availability of childcare, particularly for parents of disabled children, parents working anti-social hours and families living in rural areas.
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."
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