The latest survey comes, of course, at a time when there has been sustained debate about the price of childcare and about what government action should be taken to help hard-pressed parents.
The main concern for families is, quite understandably, the fees that they are charged and the proportion of their earnings that is swallowed up. It is very hard for most parents to untangle the complications of how the early years sector's business operates and see that most nurseries are not owned by avaricious tycoons, paying staff the minimum wage and living in the lap of luxury.
A few days ago, I spent half an hour explaining to a journalist from a national newspaper just why the majority of nurseries don't even make a profit. There are the business rates, the commercial rents, the VAT, the long-term under-funding of the 15 hours free entitlement, the low taxation and subsidies compared to countries like Denmark, and so on and on.
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