The rising cost of putting a child into nursery in Nottingham stopping parents from going back to work.
A report, by the Family and Childcare Trust found that nursery costs in the East Midlands have risen by a third in the last five years and in Nottingham they are 50 per cent higher than in the rest of the East Midlands.
The national average for child care costs per week for a child under 2 years old is £115.45.
In Nottingham the average cost of care is higher at £118.82 per week and the city has the third highest average price in Britain.
‘Major barrier’ for parents
The report was commissioned by Computershare.
Managing director of Computershare Voucher Services Julian Foster said: “Childcare costs are a major barrier to work for far too many parents.”
Computershare is the largest childcare voucher scheme provider in UK. It administers schemes for 14,500 companies and organisations that allow employees to exchange part of their salary for vouchers to pay for their child care.
Mr Foster said: “Employers could do more to help parents by making flexible working opportunities a reality for employees at all levels.”
Mum of three Sarah Shaw, said she pays more than £600 a month on full time nursery for her children and she said that the daily rate at the nursery has gone up since they started three years ago.
She is currently studying to be a nurse and gets a bursary from the NHS which she says mostly goes on paying for child care.
“I am a single parent I have no other choices, if I work they have to go to child care,” she said.
Ms Shaw said that she has considered staying at home instead of paying for expensive child care and thinks that it should be made cheaper.
“It definitely makes it really hard, child care is a main problem for me whether it’s the cost or actually finding spaces it’s a huge thing if you want to work.”
Hayley Payne is another mother who is concerned about the cost of having her children looked after.
She is a full time mum of four said that she would not be able to afford to work full time.
“I’ve got three in school and one out of school and it would cost far too much especially in the school holidays.”
Mrs Payne works one day a week on a Sunday while her husbands looks after their children.
“I cut down and cut down [working hours] when I had the children and then when my youngster starts going to school I will start looking at getting more hours but at the moment its just not worth it.”
She thinks that more schemes to pay for child care should be introduced or care should be offered at a reduced cost.
