Family and Childcare Trust has been publishing our Childcare Survey since 2001. Every year, it’s impossible to ignore the eye-watering prices faced by parents: £225 a week for full time care for a child under two, rising to £291 in central London. Although prices have been flat this year overall, this still leaves families paying up to 45 per cent of their income on childcare just for average-cost care. For some people it simply does not pay to work.

But high costs are not the only problem families face – many parents still can’t find childcare when and where they need it. In our survey, we ask all local authorities about childcare places in their area and produce a picture for the whole country on whether there is enough childcare available.

Parents in England who have ‘standard’ childcare needs – weekday daytime care for a child under five, and after-school care for a primary school pupil – see an improving picture this year. Over half of local authorities now say they have enough childcare for all under twos in their area. Two thirds have enough for three and four year olds who get the universal entitlement – but there are significant worries about whether this will continue when the entitlement for working parents doubles to thirty hours in September. One in three areas now say they have enough after school childcare for primary school students – still low, but a significant rise from last year.

Families who don’t fit into this standard picture have a much more difficult time. Over half of local authorities say they have enough childcare for parents who work full time, but this falls to just 13 per cent for parents who work atypical hours. This is a real worry – some high-paid professionals work overnight and weekend shifts, for example emergency doctors, but many families in this position are in low paid, often insecure work. In our qualitative research, we’ve spoken to parents who’d like to be able to take bar or restaurant work a few evenings a week, which would really help their family finances, but can’t because the childcare simply isn’t there.  

Children with disabilities are also likely to struggle with childcare. Some attend mainstream settings with only minimal adjustments, but others need a lot of additional support – this might include special equipment, having a staff member to work one to one with them, or all staff who’ll be working with them getting extra training. Only 18 per cent of local authorities have enough childcare for all disabled children.

A very significant proportion of childcare in the UK is delivered by private providers – both for younger children and before and after school. Increased sufficiency for ‘standard’ care is probably because private providers are stepping into gaps in the market. In many cases, these providers are delivering high quality care that meets families’ needs – but they are less likely to deliver more specialist childcare for disabled children or atypical hours as there is simply less money in it.

Local authorities must be supported to provide childcare for these groups, so that all children can access the learning opportunities they need and all parents are able to work and raise family incomes.