High cost of childcare drives families to use food banks

Findings taken from a Mumsnet poll of 2,000 parents, reveals that those with a household income of less than £20,000 have had to take ‘extreme’ measures to make ends meet while paying for childcare, including:

• A total of 16 per cent have used a food bank, while 39 per cent have used credit cards or credit arrangements, rising to 48 per cent for parents receiving universal credit .
• A third (34 per cent) said they have cut back on essential items such as heating, essential food or clothing and housing costs – 34 per cent.

It is the second set of findings to come from the Mumsnet survey of parents, which was carried out in partnership with parenting and campaigning groups.

The release of the findings follows a debate on childcare in Parliament yesterday, which was triggered by a petition calling for an independent review of childcare funding and affordability, signed by more than 100,000 parents.

‘Childcare costs are a big part of the problem’

Mumsnet Founder Justine Roberts said, ‘These parents are at the sharp end of the UK’s extortionate childcare costs. They’re falling into debt, they’re using credit cards for essential food bills, they’re cutting back on food or using food banks.

‘For those few years while their children are pre-schoolers, and especially during the years where they don’t receive any of the “free” nursery hours, many of them are running on empty, financially speaking, and childcare costs are a big part of the problem.’