Childcare costs blamed as London tops EU gender gap

LONDON has the biggest gap between middle-aged male and female workers in the EU because so many mothers leave work due to the high cost of childcare, figures show.

Around 73per cent of women aged between 35 and 44 work either parttime or full-time in the capital, compared to 92per cent of men, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.

This represents the largest “gender employment gap” for people of childbearing age across all wealthy parts of the EU.

The research suggests that while there are more women under the age of 25 working in London than men of the same age, the trend reverses as people begin to have children, the Financial Times reported.

However, the gender employment gap then shrinks more rapidly in the UK after the age of 45 than in other leading economies, suggesting it is easier for women to return to work after a long period in Britain than in other parts of the EU.

England has the highest childcare costs for couples of any economically advanced country, at about 40per cent of a household’s combined disposable income, on average, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has calculated.

Childcare costs are generally higher in London: the cost of sending a child under the age of two to nursery is said to be more than 70per cent higher in the capital than in the north-west.

The OECD has praised the Government’s recent efforts to increase the availability of flexible working arrangements and expand free childcare hours for three and four-year-olds.

But it reportedly stressed in a recent report that “the impact of these new measures on the actual final costs borne by parents is as yet unclear”.

It also noted that childcare providers have warned that a lack of government funding for the entitlement is forcing some nurseries out of business.