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Parents forced to take time off work because of holiday childcare shortage

Nearly one in five parents has taken sick leave to care for their child because of a lack of available holiday childcare.

The Family and Childcare Trust’s annual ‘Holiday Childcare Survey’, says often ‘patchy’ and expensive out-of-school provision means parents are forced to take time off work to look after their children during the six-week summer break.

The research is based on a Netmums poll of 1,587 parents in partnership with the charity, along with responses from 177 local authority Family Information Services.

Of the parents surveyed, 25 per cent said they had been forced to cut their hours, 12 per cent had given up their job and 17 per cent had taken days off sick to care for their child in the holidays.

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