The average cost of childcare in the UK now has reached £15,000 for full-time nursery for a child under two, according to the charity Coram. Those choosing to go with a childminder instead face paying £13,000 a year and Coram says costs have risen by 5.9% in the last year, reports the BBC.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is about to unveil his Budget which it has been reported, could extend free childcare for under-twos in England.
Speaking on Sunday Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the budget would help break down barriers to work.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News, he said: “We need to break down the barriers that stop people here in the UK from working, whether that’s parents who have obstacles because of childcare costs, whether it’s older people who feel they need to retire earlier … whether it’s long-term sick who find there are barriers to working.
“We need to break down those barriers and this is a budget in which I will be systematically going through all the areas where there are barriers that stop people working who want to, so that we can help people get back to work, fill those vacancies for our businesses.”
As part of what he is billing his “back-to-work Budget”, Mr Hunt will on Wednesday announce the biggest reform to the welfare system in a decade.
He will announce a rise in the maximum universal credit childcare allowance – which has been frozen at £646-a-month per child for years – by several hundred pounds, the Treasury said, without providing the exact amount.
The Government will also start paying parents on universal credit childcare support upfront, rather than in arrears. That will help those struggling to take on a job or getting into debt under the current system due to the sky-high upfront costs.
Syma Cullasy-Aldridge, chief campaigns director at the Confederation of British Industry, called for a review into childcare “to ensure it works for everyone”.
The TUC said changes such as greater childcare support are “long overdue” and welcomed “an end to assessments that cause anxiety instead of helping people achieve their aspirations”.
According to the TUC union, part-time nursery fees have gone up by 44% since 2010 - more than £2,000 a year and a survey by campaign group Pregnant then Screwed found 62% of people claim childcare costs are the same as they pay in rent or mortgages.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says the UK is the third most expensive country for childcare, reports the BBC.
The costs are put down to higher wages in the Uk and rules which state that for children aged three and over in the UK, there must usually be one carer for every eight children. The ratio for under-twos is one to three.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there must be one carer for every four children aged two. The Government is looking at changing that rule to make childcare cheaper.
Three and four-year-olds are entitled to some free childcare provision throughout the UK.
In England, all three and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week in term time, or 38 weeks a year. Children of eligible working parents are entitled to 30 free hours a week.
Two-year-olds in England are also eligible for 15 hours of free childcare in some certain circumstances - such as if the family receives Universal Credit.
Under the tax free childcare scheme, the government pays £2 into an account for every £8 the family contributes, up to a value of £2,000 per child per year, or £4,000 for disabled children.
The money can be used for approved childcare.
Eligible families can also claim child benefit for children aged 16 and under.
This is worth £21.80 per week for the first child and £14.45 per week for additional children.
