Nursery World - High fees, low pay attacked

Childcarers should not be expected to subsidise parents' childcare costs by working for low wages any longer, early years organisations said last week. Both the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and the National Childminding Association (NCMA) have called for the Government to subsidise childcare directly. They made their comments after the publication of a survey by the Daycare Trust that found the typical day nursery cost for a child under the age of two in England has risen by more than twice the rate of inflation over the past 12 months.

Both the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and the National Childminding Association (NCMA) have called for the Government to subsidise childcare directly. They made their comments after the publication of a survey by the Daycare Trust that found the typical day nursery cost for a child under the age of two in England has risen by more than twice the rate of inflation over the past 12 months.

According to the survey of 111 of the 150 Children's Information Services in England, a place in a day nursery now costs 128 a week - more than Pounds 6,650 a year. This is up 6.7 per cent on last year, when the typical cost of a nursery place was 120 a week or 6,200 a year. In London and the south-east the cost of a place is much higher, at around 168 a week -more than 8,730 a year in inner London.

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