Cost of childcare has risen more than four times faster than wages in North West

Date published: 20 October 2017


The cost of childcare for young children has risen 4.3 times faster than wages in the North West since 2008, according to new analysis published by the TUC today, Friday 20 October.

The analysis reveals that in the North West the average wages of those with a one-year-old child rose by 11% in cash terms – although pay is still falling in real terms – between 2008 and 2016. However, over the same period, childcare costs shot up by 47%.

While there is government support for childcare for children aged two and older, most working parents with one-year-olds do not get any state help with childcare costs.

As around 950,000 working parents across the UK have a child aged one, these rising costs have huge implications for family budgets, warns the TUC, as parents are spending an increasing portion of their pay on childcare.

The analysis also shows pressure is even greater on parents working full-time, especially single parents. A single mum or dad in the North West with a young child in nursery for 40 hours a week would need to spend nearly half (45%)of their pay on childcare – showing how difficult it is to balance work and family life without working fewer hours or getting support from friends and family.

TUC Regional Secretary Lynn Collins said: “The cost of childcare is spiralling but wages aren’t keeping pace. Parents are spending more and more of their salaries on childcare, and the picture is even worse for single parents.

“Nearly a million working parents with one-year-old kids have eye-watering childcare bills. There is a real gap in childcare support for one-year-olds until government assistance kicks in at age two.

“Parents need subsidised, affordable childcare from as soon as maternity leave finishes to enable them to continue working, and so mums don’t continue to have to make that choice between having a family and a career.”