Soaring childcare costs in UK to hit hard-up parents this summer

theguardian.com:

The cost of childcare over the holidays is likely to be the highest on record this summer as providers of activity camps and other paid-for care are forced to put up prices, while others have gone out of business altogether.

A leading national charity concerned with childcare and family issues said that a cocktail of rising costs, including higher utility bills, food prices and national insurance contributions is contributing to pressures on holiday care providers.

“Providers are struggling to make ends meet and balance their books in the face of the cost of living crisis,” said Ellen Broomé, the managing director of Coram Family and Childcare. “Obviously, we’re seeing record levels of inflation across the economy. I think it is very likely all of that will translate into record prices for childcare this summer.”

The charity is due to release its 17th annual survey into the cost of holiday childcare on Tuesday.

Because a number of childcare providers have gone out of business since last year, there are also likely to be fewer places available and the places that are left have become more expensive.

Some parents – particularly in rural areas – are scrabbling around to find any childcare at all. “Quite a lot of providers didn’t make it through the pandemic,” said Broomé. “They were already operating at the margins, and the cost pressures were just too much.”

Providers have also closed because demand for childcare in some areas has fallen outside school holidays as more parents work from home for some or all of the working week, Broomé said. “Patterns of working have changed over the pandemic.”

Other families simply cannot afford to pay the high price of childcare. “People have been forced to rely on family and friends.”

Anyone,