"Childcare represents a huge financial challenge for most parents and our poll shows the real impact costs are having on family life – from giving up work to cutting back on essentials," commented the Chief Executive of children's charity 4Children, Anne Longfield OBE.
In a survey of 1,000 parents of children 0-16, commissioned by the charity and carried out by Opinium, 18 percent of respondents said they were thinking about leaving work, 28 percent they would be cutting back on treats in order to meet the cost of childcare, and 16 percent they would have to cut back on essentials over the next year.
According to the Guardian, the problem is even more pronounced in London, where childcare costs are over 20 percent higher than the rest of the country. Nearly a quarter of parents in the capital said they are considering giving up work this year due to prohibitive childcare costs, and a similar proportion said they would probably be forced to work less in order to care for their children.
In December the BBC reported that according to a study from the Family and Childcare Trust, the average cost of childcare in the UK was 11,700 pounds ($17,693 US) for a family with one child in full-time nursery and one child in an afterschool club. A survey of 2,000 families by insurer Aviva found that the median average wage of the lower earner was 243 pounds ($366 US) a month after deduction of childcare, commuting and work-related costs, while in one family in four, one parent brings home just 100 pounds ($150 US) after costs.
