The average family now spends nearly £1,500 more on a nursery place than five years ago, an analysis by Labour has revealed.
The Labour Party has warned that the cost of childcare is so high that parents are having to cut down the hours they work.
A recent survey by Pregnant then Screwed found that 40% of the parents who responded said they have to work fewer hours due to childcare costs, which rises to more than half of parents in households with incomes of below £50,000.
For primary school children the cost of after school clubs has risen nearly 20% over five years, Labour found, with average parents spending more on after school clubs than on their weekly food shop.
Bridget Phillipson MP, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: ‘The Conservatives are making high quality childcare increasingly unavailable and unaffordable. Parents are having to work fewer hours or leave jobs because they cannot find or afford it, once again failing children and families.’
