Eye-watering bills for holiday childcare


Working parents are facing a holiday childcare bill of up to £800 — more than double the cost of term-time childcare, according to an annual survey.


Holiday childcare prices have risen by 3% in Britain since last summer, bringing the average parents now pay for one week of holiday childcare to £138 — more than double the price parents pay for after-school clubs during term time.


Coram Family and Childcare’s 15th annual Holiday Childcare Survey, the country’s most comprehensive survey of holiday childcare costs, reveals that working parents will have to find £828 on average for six weeks of holiday childcare per child. This means families have to find an extra £484 to cover the summer holidays compared to term-time childcare.


This, says Coram, can be a huge financial pressure for low income families who rely on Universal Credit to help with their childcare costs, as this support is paid in arrears meaning they have to find the money to cover these higher costs up front, pushing many into debt.


In addition to rising costs, the survey also highlights the substantial gaps in the availability of holiday childcare across the nation. Just one in three (31%) local authorities in England and one in five (19%) for both Wales and Scotland report having enough holiday childcare for all parents in their area who work full-time.


https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/holidaychildcare2019