... and childcare costs could rocket by £300

FAMILIES and the elderly are facing big fines unless they cough up hundreds of pounds extra to pay for pensions for nannies and carers.

Tens of thousands of parents will see the cost of their childcare rise by as much as £300 a year from next Friday, estimates from retirement firm Now Pensions show.

Meanwhile up to 153,000 elderly, sick and disabled people who employ carers will have to hand over around £150 a year extra.

Under the Government’s auto enrolment scheme, anyone employing a worker must pay pension contributions for them if the worker earns more than £10,000 a year.

Families with domestic helpers, as well as those who take on carers, are classed as employers under the rules, which are designed to encourage more people to save for retirement.

From next Friday, the minimum amount families and elderly, sick and disabled people must pay into an employee’s pension will double from 1 per cent to 2 per cent of the worker’s salary.

If they fail to make the increased payments they face an initial £400 fine – followed by a daily £50 charge. Councils that provide the care payments are supposed to increase the sums to cover the extra pension contributions by law. But charities have warned that not all will do so.