The cost of childcare in Britain has rocketed, with working parents now spending an average of £6,000 a year for each child, according to a new report. It comes as latest Government figures show that an unprecedented percentage of children are now being raised by hired help - the numbers of under-fives in full-time nurseries has trebled to almost 300,000 in the past decade. A survey by the charity Daycare Trust, due to be published tomorrow, has found that working parents are spending more on childcare for one pre school-age offspring alone than the average family of four spends on food or housing.
The national average for a full-time nursery place for a two-year-old now costs more than £110 a week - but a postcode lottery means the price can lurch from the £200 a week paid by a mother in inner London to £90.62 paid by parents in the North East.
Childminding costs also vary widely: in the West Midlands a registered minder will cost £80.62 a week while in the London the figure rises to £110. 'British childcare bills have now reached record heights,' Stephen Burke, Daycare Trust director, said.
'This survey shows the sacrifices some parents are making to ensure that their child has access to quality childcare. But for many other parents, the cost of childcare is simply beyond their reach.'
Government figures show there are now nearly a million places with England's daycare nurseries, registered childminders and pre-school groups - a threefold increase on 10 years ago. The figures do not include nannies or au pairs .
The number of daycare nurseries has increased from 2,900 in 1990 to 7,500 in the year 2000 and while the number of registered childminders has seen a slight fall as regulations tightened up and more part-time work became available to women, the National Childminding Association said it expected the numbers to begin to rise this year, thanks to a new Government start-up package.
There are 82,000 registered childminders who each look after a maximum of three under-fives. Estimates put the numbers of unregistered minders at twice that as many parents are forced to turn to them as often the only option they can afford.
Last week the former Minister and now chair of the Childcare Commission, Harriet Harman, created controversy in unveiling a new report advising the Government that working parents should get a 'toddler tax credit' to fund childcare or to enable them to stay at home should they wish. The commission did not come up with a figure but the Daycare Trust survey highlights the woeful inadequacy of the help currently available, the childcare tax credit. Those on lower incomes - up to £22,000 for one child - can get childcare tax credit, a maximum of £70 per week for one child and £105 for two. The average award among the 124,000 families qualifying is £33.48.
'The ceilings in childcare tax credit need to be reviewed,' said Burke.
'It is critical that parents on lower incomes can afford the cost of a nursery which clearly now exceeds the ceiling. More help is needed to enable all parents and children to share in the benefits of childcare.
'The geographical lottery means parents in London and the South East benefit least from childcare tax credit.'
Parents in higher earning brackets are also struggling. Charlotte Morgan, 33, is a lawyer at home in Suffolk after the birth of her third child, three-month-old Isobel. She has had to sack the nanny for Ben, four, and Eleanor, three, because she could not afford her while on maternity pay. She will get a replacement for when she goes back to work in two months' time.
'There is a shortage of lawyers in this country so the Government is urging women like me to come back to work and if I didn't, not only would I fall behind in my career, I would also miss out on a pension,' she said.
Morgan needs to earn £20,860 just to pay for her family's childcare. The two eldest go to nurseries so that they can mix with other children and prepare for a school environment. That costs £4,500 a year. A nanny costs a total of £14,900 - £11,940 wages including tax, £2,000 in expenses, and £960 employer's national insurance.
Parents already guilt-stricken about leaving their child don't need the added burden of being unable to afford the best, said childcare guru Dr Penelope Leach.
She is conducting a comprehensive seven year study into the effect of modern childcare on families.
'I hate the idea that the cost of childcare may be a real issue in people's decision how many children they have. Society ought not to allow that,' she said.
'But it would be very foolish to jump to the conclusion that we have a generation of children who will be somehow damaged by being brought up by someone else. It's important that we remember that at no point in history have children all been brought up in the 24-hour care of a parent. The only difference today is that childcare is so varied,' she said.
'Continuity of care is crucial and I have a hunch that the best childcare, whether a nanny, nursery or childminder, is when the parents are able to practically achieve the type of childcare they would ideally have if money were not involved.'
tracy.mcveigh@observer.co.uk
