How many children aged under three should childminders and nursery staff be allowed to look after at the same time?
A relaxation in the number of pre-school children that nurseries and registered childminders can oversee has been announced in order to professionalise the pre-school workforce and cut the cost of childcare in England.
Daycare Trust publish annual childcare costs surveys in January/February (nursery, childminder and out-of-school childcare costs) and July (holiday childcare costs).
A summary of the findings of the Daycare Trust childcare costs and holiday childcare costs surveys is given here. You can purchase the full reports from previous years in our online shop.
Daycare Trust and the Family and Parenting Institute’s Childcare Costs Survey 2013, compiled from figures submitted by Family Information Services, shows nursery, childminder and after-school club costs all rising at more than 6 per cent ,more than double the inflation rate (2.7 per cent).
Increases across the country put this everyday necessity into the luxury bracket. A place at Britain’s costliest nursery this year (£42,000) costs 25 per cent more than a place at a top public school such as Charterhouse (£30,574 a year).
The survey spotlights a particular problem with care for school-age children. Here, parents pay nearly £4,000 for two children to be looked after before and after the school day. A typical family holiday in Florida, including flights, costs under £3,000.
These rampant price rises come in a year when, in recession-hit Britain, average wages have stagnated. The position is more acute for families on lower incomes, who have already been hit by a 10 per cent drop in support for childcare through the tax credit system and face tax credit rises pegged well below inflation at 1per cent.
Finding affordable, high-quality childcare, although a necessity for most parents, has long been a problem for families in Britain. Daycare Trust and the Family and Parenting Institute’s survey shows how much worse things have become. A nursery place now costs 77 per cent more in real terms than it did in 2003, but earnings have stayed still. In 2003, average median earnings in real terms were £11.24 an hour in 2003, and in 2012 they were £11.21.
Key findings from the survey include:
Download Childcare Costs Survey 2013
Press Release about Daycare Trust's Childcare costs survey 2013.
Summary of the Childcare costs survey 2012 (January 2012)
Summary of the Holiday childcare costs survey 2012 (July 2012)
Summary of the Childcare costs survey 2011 (January 2011)
Summary of the Holiday childcare costs survey 2011 (July 2011)
Summary of the Childcare costs survey 2010 (January 2010)
Summary of the Holiday childcare costs survey 2010 (July 2010)
Childcare costs survey (January 2009)
Summary of the Holiday childare costs survey (July 2009)
Childcare costs survey (January 2008)
Holiday childcare costs survey (July 2008)
Childcare costs survey (January 2007)
Holiday childcare costs survey (July 2007)
The new name for Daycare Trust and the Family and Parenting Institute.
Report reveals childcare is the luxury that families have to afford as figures show that nursery, childminder and after-school club costs are all rising at more than double the rate of inflation.
The two charities merged on 1 January 2013 and the new charity will be launched in April 2013.
A review of Daycare Trust's achievements in 2012
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