British parents are struggling to find childcare over the summer holidays, suggests a survey by the Daycare Trust.
Of the 150 Family Information Services (FIS) in England, the trust found 60 had parents reporting a shortage of holiday childcare. The regions with particularly high shortage levels were the South East, the West Midlands and the North East, reports the BBC.
Of the 21 FIS in Wales, 10 had parents facing a shortage of childcare for the holidays.
In Scotland, 6 of the 31 Childcare Information Services (CIS) said parents were finding to hard.
Shortages are just one problem – the cost for holiday childcare is also an issue, and this is often dependent on where you live. For example, in the West Midlands, you could typically expect to pay £79.02 per week. In the South East, you’ll be forking out £105.74 weekly.
The Daycare Trust found the average cost for a week of childcare for one child is:
- £93 in England
- £80.25 in Wales
- £100.38 in Scotland
"Where provision is available, parents are being expected to shell out the equivalent cost of a family holiday abroad over the course of the summer - simply for the privilege of having their children looked after so that they can attend work,” said Alison Garnham, the Daycare Trust’s chief executive.
"If the government are serious about getting parents into employment then they must take a comprehensive approach to investing in more holiday and wraparound childcare, whilst ensuring tax credits really do 'make work pay', so that affordable, accessible, quality childcare is available in every community, for every child,” Alison also said.
These results come from the responses received to a Daycare Trust questionnaire sent to 202 information services in the UK. Of this number, 132 services responded (86 in England, 15 in Wales and 21 in Scotland).
