Every January, the Daycare Trust's survey of childcare costs makes for fascinating reading - and the figures are certainly alarming from a parent's point of view. They consistently show fees rising well above the rate of inflation (see News, page 4).
It would be easy for the public to get the impression that greedy nursery owners are putting up prices in a reckless fashion - far from the truth, as Nursery World readers know. There are many pressures forcing the price of nursery places upwards, including the rises in minimum wages, spiralling business rates, shortfalls from the Nursery Education Grant and the drive to increase graduate recruitment. Few private settings are making a profit.
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