Parents in key worker jobs are spending more than a quarter of their pay on childcare, with nursery costs rocketing by £600 over five years, research shows.
Analysis by Labour laid bare the pressure on families working in lower paid jobs such as care staff, teaching assistants and bin men, as Brits face a cost of living squeeze.
Parents earning below the national average are spending around 27% of their income on childcare, with costs more than doubling compared to wages since 2008, according to figures from the House of Commons Library.
Workers on minimum wage include care staff and checkout workers, while those earning 67% of average wages including level one teaching assistants and bin men.
Nursery costs for a child under two have also increased by £15-a-week on average since 2018, hitting parents with an annual price hike of over £600 in five years, the research found.
It comes as Brits began to feel the impact of the highest rise in energy bills in living memory, against a backdrop of rising inflation, tax hikes and surging prices.
Shadow Children's Minister Helen Hayes said: "Good quality childcare and early learning is key to children’s life chances, but too many families are facing rapidly rising costs.
“For many parents in key worker roles childcare costs are rising much faster than wages, as families also battle rising energy prices and household bills."
Ellen Broomé, managing director of Coram Family and Childcare, said: “We are disappointed that amid an ongoing cost of living crisis, and off the back of a pandemic which has severely impacted children’s life chances, the Government refuses to address childcare funding and availability.
“Parents up and down the country are either locked out of work or struggle to make ends meet as childcare prices continue to go up and the availability of places goes down.
“High quality childcare is key social infrastructure, but currently families are being let down by the high costs, especially at this time."
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said “Parents and families are facing incredibly tough choices as costs go up across the board.
"If people cannot access high quality childcare then everyone loses – parents can’t work and children miss out on learning opportunities that are vital for their development."
She warned that providers were being hit by rising costs while Government funding for childcare hours stalls.
Ms Tanuku added: “The vast majority of providers say the Government is underfunding them and with rising costs across the board, it’s parents and providers themselves left footing the bill.”
A Government spokesperson said: "The early years of a child’s life are the most crucial, which is why we have invested more than £3.5 billion in each of the last three years to deliver the free childcare offers, including the 30 hours per week for working parents which is supporting thousands of families.
"We are also investing millions to transform services for parents, carers, babies and children, including through Family Hubs where families can access important support services.
“We continue to look for ways to improve the cost, choice and availability of childcare, and alongside this we have recently announced the biggest ever increase in the National Living Wage since its introduction from April 2022, to support working families more widely.”
