Parents spending nearly half their salaries on childcare

The Childcare Costs Survey by charity Employers for Childcare found that on average the childcare costs for  two working parents with one child equates to 45 per of their total weekly salary.

For households with two children, the average family size in Northern Ireland, this is the equivalent of 90 per cent of one parent’s salary based on an average childcare cost of £154 per child a week, or £16,042 a year for childcare for both children.

According to the survey of around 2,500 parents, the majority of families use a day nursery as their main form of childcare.

On average a nursery place costs around £154 per week for a child under two-years-old and £153 for a child over the age of two, a slight drop in price from last year’s figures.

Childminding costs are slightly higher than day nursery fees at £155 per week, whereas day nurseries had the highest costs in 2010.

Out-of-school clubs are less expensive, with an average cost of £28 per week for breakfast clubs and £79 per week for afterschool clubs.

However, childcare costs are very much dependent on region, with urban counties such as Antrim and Down coming out more expensive than in rural counties such as Tyrone and Fermanagh, where care is less flexible and not as accessible.

The survey also highlights the struggle many families face in balancing work with childcare, and revealed that childcare has forced nearly half of parents to change their working hours in order to manage costs.

For some, part-time work was a solution to achieving a better work-life balance, while for others it was not financially viable to work part-time as one parent’s salary was allocated to paying for childcare.

According to the survey, the cost of formal childcare and the lack of childcare in rural areas, has led many families to use both formal and informal childcare, with grandparents being relied upon the most.

The Childcare Costs survey, which was launched today (Tuesday) at Stormont, where the Northern Ireland Assembly is based, follows research earlier this month by the Daycare Trust and Save the Children that revealed low-income families across the UK are having to turn down work because they cannot afford to pay for childcare.

Marie Marin, chief executive officer at Employers for Childcare Charitable Group, said, ‘We have long argued that childcare is a longstanding barrier to employment, with many parents struggling to meet their childcare costs. We hope that, through our report launch today, the Northern Ireland Executive starts investing more into childcare services.’