Following on from my recent posts regarding the proposed changes to Childcare Vouchers, I thought the attached link to the Guardian’s article from Saturday might be of use to those of you who are considering the future of this important (to some) benefit:
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jan/12/soaring-cost-of-childcare/print
And for those who don’t wish to follow the link, a summary of the factoids that caught my eye is shown below (the source of all the quotes is shown in the article):
- The cost of childcare in Britain has soared by 19% over the past year. Childcare professionals have shown a sharp rise in hourly costs, with the average cost of a nanny now at £8.75 per hour. Compare this cost to the hourly rate of some employees, and you will see why state funded support through childcare vouchers or the proposed replacement (Tax Free Childcare) is needed to keep such parents in the workplace.
- The cost of childcare has increased by 77% over the last decade (yet wages have increased little, or not at all, in recent years).
- Parents cite cost as the main barrier to obtaining childcare. And around 1 in 4 parents polled in a YouGov poll think that having more affordable, flexible and accessible childcare would make the biggest improvement to family life.
All of which makes the rationale of retaining access to state support for childcare costs fairly self-explanatory I hope.
Best regards
Steve
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