Childminding costs highest in Wales

Jan 29 2008 by Rhodri Clark, Western Mail

PARENTS pay more for childminding in Wales than anywhere else in Britain, according to startling research published today.

Charity the Daycare Trust says the cost of childcare, whether with childminders or in nurseries, has risen faster in Wales than in England or Scotland over the past year.

Hard-pressed Welsh parents are now trapped in a system where they face paying nearly £8,000 a year per child for the services of a childminder.

The burden of rising childcare costs came under fire from experts yesterday, and the expensive parent-trap was branded a major disincentive for unemployed parents to find work.

“The [weekly] cost of a childminder in Wales is now higher than in England and Scotland, at £153 for a child under two and £151 for a child of two and over,” says the Daycare Trust’s 2008 Childcare Costs Survey.

“Childminder costs in Wales also rose at a much higher rate than in England and Scotland.”

A Welsh nursery place costs on average £7,384 for full-time care.

The Daycare Trust could not explain why Welsh costs rose so quickly – at up to six times the rate of inflation – while nursery costs had fallen by 3% in Scotland.

Jenny Randerson, Liberal Democrat AM for Cardiff Central, called for more government money to tackle the problem.