Childcare costs in the spotlight

Parents in Rutherglen and Cambuslang are paying less than the national average for child care, according to new figures.

Online social platform Childcare.co.uk has released figures that show the average cost of child care in Lanarkshire is £6.12 an hour.

That is 17 per cent below the UK average of £7.16. The most expensive type of childcare in Rutherglen and Cambuslang is nannying, which costs on average £8.80 per hour, followed by babysitting at £7.21, childminding at £4.14 and day nurseries at £4.33.

Childcare in places like Toryglen, Castlemilk, King’s Park and Croftfoot is slightly more expensive than Rutherglen and Cambuslang according to the figures. More than 1,364 people are actively looking for childcare in Lanarkshire, with more than 493 service providers searching for work, meaning demand is significantly outstripping supply.

The Glasgow average is £6.39, nannying costs on average £9.07 an hour, childminding is £4.26, babysitting is £7.82 and nursery £4.39.

The London hourly average for childcare sits nearly 28 per cent higher than Lanarkshire at £8.45, meaning Lanarkshire parents pay on average £2.33 an hour less than parents in the UK’s biggest city.

Richard Conway, CEO and founder of Childcare.co.uk, said:“Prices for all types of commodities and services change based on location, and it’s no different for childcare.

“London is known to be more expensive than the rest of the country for most goods, but it’s interesting to see that places such as Lanarkshire are so much cheaper.

“We know that childcare is a worry for parents across the UK and it’s interesting to see such a big deficit between the number of childcare providers in the area and the number of parents in need of childcare.”