This is despite the survey showing that more mothers are in employment and working full-time, rather than part-time.
Key findings from the Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents for 2022, published today (27 July), reveal:
- Since 2021 there has been an increase in the percentage of parents of children from birth to four who are finding it 'difficult' or 'very difficult' to meet their childcare costs, from just under a quarter in 2021 (24 per cent) to around a third (32 per cent) in 2022.
- There was a fall in the percentage of parents who felt that the number of local childcare places was ‘about right’, from 46 per cent in 2021 to 41 per cent in 2022.
- There was an increase in the percentage of parents who felt there were not enough childcare places from 28 per cent in 2021 to 34 per cent in 2022.
- 60 per cent of working mothers said that having reliable childcare helped them go to work.
- The percentage of mothers of children up to the age of 14 in work rose from 71 per cent in 2021 to 73 per cent in 2022.
- In 2010, 25 per cent of all mothers were working full-time, but by 2022 this had almost doubled to 41 per cent.
'Adding more hours is going to make the situation worse'.
Given the findings, the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and the Early Years Alliance (EYA) raised further concerns over the expansion of the ‘free’ entitlement from next year if settings continue to be ‘underfunded.’
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the EYA, explained, ‘If the system is not working now, adding more hours while continuing to underfund providers is clearly only going to make the situation much worse.’
The NDNA also said they were not surprised that more parents had said they were unable to find a childcare place to meet their needs given the increased rate of nursery closures.
A Government spokesperson said, 'These findings demonstrate how important our biggest ever investment into childcare is. It will save a working parent using 30 hours of childcare up to an average of £6,500 per year.
'We have raised the amount that parents on Universal Credit can claim back monthly for their childcare, and we’re investing an additional £204m this year to increase the rates we pay providers for places in just two months’ time. We separately have set out our plan for working parents of older children to be able to access wraparound childcare.
'We will continue to support fantastic workforce so that they can deliver on our promise of affordable, flexible childcare for working parents.'
