Childcare costs force one in four UK parents to quit work or education
The cost of childcare is forcing one in four UK parents to give up their job or drop out of education, according to a new study.
More than 7,000 parents and carers from the UK, Brazil, India, Netherlands, Nigeria, Turkey, and the US with children under the age of seven were questioned for global children’s charity Theirworld.
The research found 23% of UK-based parents had either quit work or dropped out of their studies to avoid childcare costs, and 74% of parents in the UK said they find it difficult to meet childcare costs.
Theirworld chairwoman Sarah Brown, who is married to former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, is calling on governments to urgently prioritise spending on the early years.Sarah Bown emphasises “early years childcare is as essential to a country’s infrastructure as roads, hospitals, and telecommunications”. Theirworld Charity noted that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made childcare a central part of his Budget, providing an extra £4 billion over three years, and also announced that in all eligible households in England, every child under five will receive 30 hours a week of free childcare from the moment maternity leave ends. However, critics have pointed out that this will not be in place until September 2025.