The poll of 3,000 working mums and dads of children up to the age of 11 highlights the struggles they face with juggling work and childcare.
Carried out for the charity Working Families ahead of National Work Life Week (7-11 October), it reveals:
- 31 per cent have requested flexible working arrangements to balance their responsibilities.
- 16 per cent claim the impact of accessing childcare has led to them avoiding applying for new roles.
- 75 per cent regularly work overtime as 23 per cent claim it’s the only way to manage their workload.
- Nearly three in 10 (28 per cent) are implementing variable hours, 19 per cent are remote, and 15 per cent work term-time hours only to help with childcare issues.
- A fifth of parents don’t have any flexible arrangements in place - with this being most prominent in the transport and logistics sector (42 per cent).
- Despite 62 per cent claiming their employer cares about their work life balance, 51 per cent have previously refrained from applying for a job because it didn’t offer flexibility.
- Six in 10 work shifts, with 27 per cent receiving up to only one weeks’ notice of their schedule – making it difficult to organise childcare arrangements.
Jane van Zyl, chief executive of Working Families, said, ‘Accessing affordable and reliable childcare has become a significant challenge for many families.
‘A lot of parents are struggling to balance work and family life due to limited availability, rising costs, and long waiting lists.
‘It's not just an inconvenience - it's a barrier that impacts career opportunities, financial stability, and overall well-being.’
'Parents are cutting back their hours or missing out on job opportunities just to get by day-to-day.'
Flexible working campaigner and ambassador for Working Families, Anna Whitehouse – also known as Mother Pukka – said, ‘This is the reality for so many parents – we’re stuck in a cycle where childcare is either unaffordable or unavailable, forcing families to make impossible choices.
‘Parents are cutting back their hours or missing out on job opportunities just to get by day-to-day. The system, as it stands, doesn’t work.
‘If we truly want to support families, we need workplaces that make it possible for parents to manage the balancing act of work and childcare, without having to sacrifice their own wellbeing.’
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, commented, ‘It is disappointing, but sadly not at all unsurprising, that a third of families have had to reduce their working hours due to difficulties accessing early education and childcare
‘We know that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are doing their best to provide enough early years places to meet increasing demand, but the fact is that the sector is facing severe capacity challenges due to an ever-worsening staffing crisis – a situation that will only become more pressurised as the expansion of the early entitlement offer continues to roll out, unless urgent action is taken by Government.’
