Nursery care costs now same as university

GOING to nursery is now as expensive as going to university, as figures from the Coram Family and Childcare Trust show some parents are paying more for a part-time nursery place than the cost of a year’s university tuition.

The average cost of a 25-hour week at nursery for a child under two is £175 in inner London – or £9,100 a year. Annual university fees are up to £9,250.

The cost of early-years education has risen 3 per cent in the past year, with parents paying £127 a week on average for each child under two at nursery, the charity’s childcare survey said.

Prices vary but are lowest in Yorkshire and Humberside, where 25 hours’ weekly care is £5,616 per year.

Many working parents are entitled to 30 hours a week free childcare but the report suggests a number of local authorities believe the policy is damaging the sector. A quarter of local bodies think the rules make childcare outside the 30-hour allowance more expensive. One Midlands authority said providers were charging more for funded children than the unfunded and cited one nursery that charged parents £1 a day “to open their child’s packed lunch”.

Anntoinette Bramble, of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, urged the Government to ensure councils could provide early-years education for all families.

The Government said it was spending a “record amount” on childcare support, allowing parents to be flexible in their working hours.