Nursery World - Costs soar for all childcare places

The cost of places with nurseries and childminders in England has risen by almost double the rate of inflation, figures from the Daycare Trust's annual childcare costs survey show.

The cost of a nursery place for a child aged two and over has risen by 5.1 per cent, and by 4.8 per cent for a child under two.

The average cost for a full-time (50 hours per week) nursery place in England for a child under two is £176 a week.

An average parent in England working part-time can expect to spend more than half their wages before tax on a nursery place for a child under two, the survey revealed.

The gap between the cost of childminders and nurseries is narrowing, with costs for childminders rising by 9.2 per cent for a child aged two and over and by 6.4 per cent for a child under two.

In London, childminders charge on average £104 a week for a child under two – just £5 less per week for a nursery place for a child of the same age.

While costs for nurseries in London and the south-east remain higher than elsewhere, they have not risen as much in the past year as elsewhere in England.

In the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber there was a 23.5 per cent and a 12.9 per cent rise respectively in nursery costs for children aged two and over.

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