This company sponsored the research
Daycare
Trust is a member of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, www.ecpc.org.uk
The results are in for the 2008
Childcare Costs Survey and the figures do not look promising. Daycare Trust has found nursery costs for
England to be an astounding £8,368 per year for a child under the age of two
(far more if you live in a city). The
numbers for Scotland and Wales are not as high as England but they don’t appear
to be that much better: £7,384 in Wales and £7,332 in Scotland on average per
year for nursery care. “In England the
cost of a typical nursery place for a child aged under two has gone up by 5 percent,
more than twice the rate of inflation (currently 2.1 percent) to an average of
£159 per week. This compares with
average earnings of £457 per week” (Daycare Trust). And some more unsettling information:
·
“In 2005, families spent 11 percent of their income on childcare – a
figure that rose to 20 percent for those on the lowest incomes.
·
Out-of-school childcare has increased in price by six times more than
the rate of inflation.
·
From October 2008, lone parents with a youngest child aged 12 or over
will be required to start looking for work or lose benefits” (Daycare Trust).
So what do we do about all of this;
what is the solution? One way that can
help to cut down on fees is with nannies or au pairs. “Childminder fees were lower than nursery fees, increasing in
line with inflation, with an average rate in England of £144 for under-twos and
£142 for children aged two and over” (Daycare Trust). Another way is getting the help that you are entitled to but
perhaps do not know about, claiming tax credits. Claiming tax credits can cover up to 80 percent of childcare
costs and collecting vouchers from your employer can cut the price of childcare
costs significantly. Also, if you are
not yet aware of it, every parent is entitled to 12.5 hours free of charge
nursery education when their child turns three years of age.
The government has begun increasing
help and benefits for parents and their children. However, many organizations, including Daycare Trust, have called
for more. Hopefully soon we will be
better equipped to help our children, but until the government aids the public with
better financial assistance for childcare, we must help ourselves. Visit a government website such as:
Taxcredits.direct.gov.uk
to find out your eligibility for child tax credits.
Or
visit:
Globalappointments.com
to discover options for childminders, au pairs, or nannies.
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