Soaring childcare costs are limiting parents’ ability to work in the West Midlands, as Labour demands Sunak secure families’ finances
Labour is today warning the cost of childcare is so high that parents are having to cut down the hours they work across the West Midlands. New Labour analysis shows the average family now spends nearly £54 per week (or over £2000 for a 38 week school year) more on a nursery place than five years ago.
41% per cent of parents responding to a recent survey by ‘Pregnant then Screwed’ said that they have to work fewer hours due to childcare costs, which rises to more than half of parents in households with incomes of below £50,000.
For primary school children, the cost of after school clubs having risen 25 per cent over five years. With average parents spending more on after school clubs than on their weekly food shop.
A decade of Conservative governments has forced the closure of 1,300 children’s centres cutting off support for families, while the government has admitted to knowingly underfunding childcare providers which is pushing up costs for parents.
Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan would mean children could go to breakfast clubs and after school activities for free, boosting children’s social development and wellbeing post-pandemic, and support working parents.
The Chancellor’s spring statement failed to give families the security they need as prices spiral and the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis is hitting household budgets.
Childcare costs are so out of control many parents simply cannot afford to work, energy prices are pushing families to the wall, and yet still this Conservative Chancellor is raising taxes to a 70 year high. Cat Price, Stratford Labour
Stratford Labour’s Cat Price said,
“The cost of living crisis is hammering families in Stratford and across the country, yet the Conservatives aren’t just nowhere to be seen – they are actually making things worse.
“Childcare costs are so out of control many parents simply cannot afford to work, energy prices are pushing families to the wall, and yet still this Conservative Chancellor is raising taxes to a 70 year high.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. Labour has a plan to tackle the cost of living crisis – Labour is on your side.”
The Conservatives are making high quality childcare increasingly unavailable and unaffordable. Parents are having to work fewer hours or leave jobs because they cannot find or afford it, once again failing children and families. Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary
Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:
“The Conservatives are making high quality childcare increasingly unavailable and unaffordable. Parents are having to work fewer hours or leave jobs because they cannot find or afford it, once again failing children and families.
“Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan would invest in early years places for children on free school meals and boost access to before and after school clubs, as families fight rising prices.
“The Chancellor has failed to give families security. Labour would halt the national insurance rise and use a one off windfall tax on oil and gas companies to cut household’s bills by up to £600 and put families first.”
Notes for Editors:
- The weekly cost of a full time nursery place for a child under 2 in West Midlands has increased by £53.99 over the last 5 years.
- £53.99 multiplied across an average 38 week school year is £2051.62
Full time under 2 | 2022 (£) | 2018 (£) | Change | % | 5 yr increase in cost |
England | 273.57 | 236.19 | 37.38 | 16% | 1420.44 |
East Mids | 253.03 | 202.05 | 50.98 | 25% | 1937.24 |
East of England | 303.61 | 226.35 | 77.26 | 34% | 2935.88 |
London inner | 368.73 | 342.78 | 25.95 | 8% | 986.1 |
London outer | 303.04 | 269.06 | 33.98 | 13% | 1291.24 |
North East | 238.03 | 215.77 | 22.26 | 10% | 845.88 |
North West | 238.29 | 194.67 | 43.62 | 22% | 1657.56 |
South East | 289.06 | 267.36 | 21.7 | 8% | 824.6 |
South West | 264.58 | 233.77 | 30.81 | 13% | 1170.78 |
West Midlands | 267.02 | 213.03 | 53.99 | 25% | 2051.62 |
Yorks and Humber | 241.88 | 206.4 | 35.48 | 17% | 1348.24 |
Source: Coram Family and Childcare Annual Survey 2018 / 2022
- 41% of parents said they have had to work fewer hours than they would like because of childcare costs (Pregnant then Screwed)
Regional figures
East Midlands: 44%
East of England: 40%
London: 33%
North East: 47%
North West: 40%
Northern Ireland: 40%
Scotland: 40%
South East: 39%
South West: 45%
Wales: 41%
West Midlands: 41%
Yorkshire and the Humber: 42%
- The cost of afterschool clubs for primary school age children in West Midlands has increased 25% over 5 years
Afterschool clubs | 2022 (£) | 2018 (£) | Change | % | 5 yr increase in cost |
England | 66.75 | 56.82 | 9.93 | 17% | 377.34 |
East Mids | 67.46 | 50.9 | 16.56 | 33% | 629.28 |
East of England | £81.54 | 65.76 | 15.78 | 24% | 599.64 |
London inner | 64.77 | 71.75 | -6.98 | -10% | -265.24 |
London outer | 86.85 | 53.16 | 33.69 | 63% | 1280.22 |
North East | 64.25 | 56.34 | 7.91 | 14% | 300.58 |
North West | 53.1 | 48.84 | 4.26 | 9% | 161.88 |
South East | 63.09 | 58.55 | 4.54 | 8% | 172.52 |
South West | 63.48 | 55.28 | 8.2 | 15% | 311.6 |
West Midlands | 72.38 | 57.93 | 14.45 | 25% | 549.1 |
Yorks and Humber | 59.56 | 54.78 | 4.78 | 9% | 181.64 |
Source: Coram Family and Childcare Annual Survey 2018 / 2022
- Over 1,300 children’s centres have closed since 2010: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-01-22/6707
- In 2021, FOIs revealed that the government is knowingly underfunding childcare providers for the free hours available to 2, 3 and 4 year olds. This is forcing childcare providers to cross-subsidise by putting up prices for parents. Ministers ‘knowingly underfunding’ childcare sector in England
- Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan would more than triple pupil premium investment in children on free school meals in early years settings and deliver free breakfast and afterschool clubs.