Norfolk mum warns more parents are taking unpaid leave to avoid high childcare costs
The research, based on surveys from local authorities suggests that the cost of holiday childcare has risen by 6% on last year
A mum from Norfolk is warning that increasing numbers of working parents are taking unpaid leave- so they don't have to pay eye-watering childcare costs
It's after a survey from the Coram Family and Childcare charity found that it's now costing more than a thousand pounds, on average, for childcare over the school summer holidays.
"We need better provision and infrastructure for working parents"
Rebecca Wright lives near Norwich and is also a maternity rights campaigner:
"For me, to have my child in one day a week across six weeks, has cost me £600"
"A lot of my annual leave is used for childcare purpose and that's very limited. There's only so much of that that I can taken before I have to take unpaid leave".
"There's very few roles that can offer 6 to 8 weeks of annual leave, which can cover the summer. We need better provision and infrastructure for working parents.
"Fortunately I have local support from my parents, but I shouldn't have to ask for that and it's not fair on them, either.
"It's a real black hole here, when it comes to childcare provision. A lot of parents are really struggling and are having to take unpaid leave to cover the gaps".
The research in more detail:
Fewer than a fifth of local authorities in England have enough holiday childcare provision for full-time working parents and costs have risen since last year, according to the Coram Family and Childcare charity.
It found families in the UK pay on average £1,049 for six weeks of holiday childcare for a school-age child, which is £635 more than they would pay for six weeks of after-school childcare during term time.
The research, based on surveys from local authorities suggests that the cost of holiday childcare has risen by 6% on last year.
The average cost of a place at a holiday club in the UK is now approximately £175 per week - 2.5 times higher than the cost of an after-school club during term time, the charity said.
Availability of provision in England has fallen this year, the survey found, with just 17% of local authorities reporting that they have enough holiday childcare for parents working full-time "in all areas" compared to 24% in 2023.
In England, just 3% of local authorities said they had enough holiday childcare for disabled children in all areas.
Working parents also face a huge disparity in price and availability of holiday childcare places depending on where they live in the UK, the report found.
What's the Government do?
In March 2023, then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that eligible families of children as young as nine months in England would be able to claim 30 hours of funded childcare a week by September 2025.
Working parents of two-year-olds in England have been able to access 15 hours of funded childcare during term time since April as part of a staggered rollout of the Government's childcare expansion.
This is due to be extended to working parents of all children older than nine months from September this year, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families a year later.