Childcare bills hit £9k a year

PARENTS of under-twos are now forking out up to £9,100 a year on parttime childcare after annual costs rose by 3 per cent, figures show.

The average parent pays £127 a week, or £6,600 a year, for a 25-hour place with a nursery or childminder, a survey by the charity Coram Family and Childcare found. The biggest weekly bill for undertwos is £175 in inner London – the equivalent of £9,100 a year. The cheapest childcare is in Yorkshire and Humberside, at £108 a week (£5,600 a year).

The data comes amid growing concerns that fees are becoming unaffordable. Currently, working parents of children aged between three and four get 30 hours’ free childcare a week. But experts say nurseries are raising prices for other families to subsidise these places, as they do not get enough government cash to fund free care.