London parents priced out of work by high childcare fees

A report by the Assembly says that the lack of affordable childcare in the capital is locking parents out of work, with around half of mothers in London in jobs, compared to two-thirds across the country.

It says that the main reason for higher childcare fees is that providers in London face higher costs than elsewhere.

According to the Tackling childcare affordability report, ground floor nursery rents are £100 to £250 per square metre in London, compared to £40 to £60 for Stockport in Greater Manchester. Staff costs are also 20 to 30 per cent higher in London.

However, providers do not receive significantly more funding for providing the free entitlement to cover their higher staff and accommodation costs.

Nursery classes attached to primary or infant schools also need to offer more flexibility to parents, rather than fixed three-hour sessions, which do not fit in with most parents’ working hours.

The report, which makes a series of recommendations, is also calling on the Government to develop the childcare element of Universal Credit so that the maximum amount families can claim varies according to local childcare costs.

An analysis of Universal Credit by London Councils found that under the system a London couple with two children would be £2,000 a year worse off than if they lived outside the capital, because of higher childcare costs.

The assembly’s health and public services committee says that in some well-off areas of London a full-time nursery place can cost up to £22,100 a year.

Childcare for a child under two in the capital costs up to a third more than elsewhere for a place with a childminder – an average of £119 a week -  and up to 24 per cent more for a nursery place (also £119 a week on average).