A young woman has said the cost of childcare is putting her off having children. This comes as new figures show families in the South West are now spending more than £1,100 a month on childcare on average
The TUC found that the average family in the region now spends £1,147 on childcare each month - which equates to £13,764 a year. A protest demanding affordable childcare, improvements in parental leave and flexible working hours is coming to Bristol this Saturday.
Ahead of this, we are looking into the state of childcare in the city and are looking to speak with both families and providers. From long waiting lists to being let down last minute and annual costs running into the thousands, we would love to hear your experience. Please contact our reporter Estel directly on estel.farellroig@reachplc.com
Read next: Bristol families spending over £1,100 a month on childcare
Emily McMullin, from Redland, said she doesn't have any children yet but would like to in the future, which is why she will be attending the March of the Mummies on Saturday. The 28-year-old said the cost of childcare is a massive issue that is likely to affect her in the near future.
"It does have an impact on if or when I have children," she continued. "It is the cost that mainly really concerns me.
"We graduated after the financial crisis and our whole working lives we have had low wages, while house prices are really high - adding the cost of childcare to that is a real worry. I do not have family nearby that I could rely on for free childcare but I do not think they should have to do that either."
Ms McMullin said she is also concerned that some nurseries have long waiting lists while the quality of the care provided is also variable. She and her partner work in the charity sector and do not have high paying jobs, she continued, while a better paying job would result in more stress and longer hours - having an impact on family life.
"It feels like you can not have children and a good work-life balance," she added. "I had a parent who had a very stressful job and we do not want that for our family."
At the moment, they are renting a flat in Redland but they are hoping to buy somewhere in the next couple of years, she said. However, Ms McMullin said that, had they owned a property right now and been hit by the rising interest rates, she doesn't know how they would have coped with an increase of several hundred pounds a month.
The Redland resident said she is half-French and has relatives in the country who have access to largely free crèches from three months old. People do not have an issue contributing to that via fees or tax, she added, but having to spend hundreds a month like in the UK is not sustainable.
Ms McMullin said what people have to spend in the UK in childcare as "shocking" and "completely disproportionate" to their wages, describing the system as "broken". The protest on Saturday will start at the College Green 10am marching via Corn Street and Baldwin Street, back to College Green.
The protest is demanding reform on three key issues that are pushing mothers out of the workforce and into poverty: increased funding for the childcare sector to enable affordable, high quality childcare for all children; ring-fenced and properly paid maternity and paternity leave and all jobs to be flexible by default.
Joeli Brearley, founder and CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “Mothers from all over the UK will be coming together because enough is enough.
"We want urgent progress on women’s rights. It’s the 21st Century, yet 54,000 mothers are being pushed out of the workforce every year for simply daring to procreate.
"We have the second most expensive childcare in the OECD, the third worst ranking maternity benefit and the worst ranking paternity benefit in Europe. Data from the ONS shows that women of childbearing age are dropping like flies from the workforce.
"The childcare sector is in a mess; thousands of nurseries have collapsed this year alone. We have had enough.”
Read next:
- Nursery rated 'inadequate' as children are 'being let down'
- Ofsted rates nursery 'inadequate' as children's safety is 'at risk'
- Full list of Welcoming Spaces as venues open their doors for colder months
- Expectant mums told Cossham birth centre could close until Christmas
Leaping Lambs shuts five nurseries in the Bristol area amid Ofsted investigation
