Ruth Cadbury Highlights Childcare Costs

Expense 'can be as much as a second mortgage'

Ruth Cadbury, Labour's candidate for the 2015 General Election in the Brentford & Isleworth constituency, has highlighted the increase cost of childcare in her constituency.

A report published last week shows that London's childcare costs are above the national average and those in Hounslow borough are higher still.

Cllr Cadbury, said, “Families across the borough are facing a cost of living of crisis, and childcare costs are at the heart of the problem for many local families. Parents are unable to return to work and more women are being forced to work part time because the costs of full time childcare are increasingly out of their reach. For many families paying for childcare can be as much as having a second mortgage.”

Cllr Cadbury added: “Labour’s commitment to 25 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year old children of working parents would make a real difference for them, and to the economy. Over 2000 3-4 year olds in this borough would be eligible for the additional help, saving parents as much as £1,500 per child. Families simply can’t go on with childcare costs continuing to increase.”

She added, “Supporting mothers into work also brings increased tax revenue and reduced benefit spending, so helping with childcare costs provides a win for families, and for the economy.”

According to latest figures from the Labour Party and Family and Childcare Trust, the average cost of 25 hours nursery place in London is now over £140 a week, a rise of 20% in the last year alone. A parent in London buying 50 hours of childcare per week for a child under two would face an average annual bill of nearly £14,000 per year.

In Chiswick, the position is even worse, with parents paying over £21,000 per year and the average across the whole borough of Hounslow heading towards £16,000 a year. Hounslow’s figures are contained in a report in preparation on Childcare in the borough, which will be going to Hounslow’s Cabinet shortly.

You can contact Cllr. Cadbury at: ruth@ruthcadbury.org.uk

March 14, 2014