The Countryside Living Index has found that parents living in the country pay an average of £202 per week for their child to be looked after, while their urban counterparts pay £190.
This £12 a week difference adds up to a total of £624 per year, a 6.3 per cent premium on childcare in rural areas, the report said.
The survey of 1,635 adults, carried out by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Mutual for the third consecutive year, found that lack of local nurseries and remoteness from family support were felt to be the main contributing factors to the premium.
Nearly a third (31 per cent) of rural parents said they had just one nursery or crèche in their local area and a quarter (25 per cent) said they had no childcare provision nearby.
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