The survey of 6,147 mothers with children under the age of three, also finds that almost two-thirds of those that returned to employment either work fewer hours, have changed jobs, or stopped working because of childcare costs.
Campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, which carried out the survey, looked at average figures on income and the daily cost of childcare and determined that the average person could spend more than half of their income on childcare.
It found that parents in the East of England are most impacted by the cost of childcare, with 40 per cent stating that earnings don’t cover costs or are completely used on childcare costs. Parents in Northern Ireland however fair the best, with 23 per stating that their earnings are not covering their childcare costs.
For parents on universal credit, the campaign group says the ‘picture is bleaker’ because there is no support in helping women get back to work.
Sarah, a single parent from South West England who works in HR, said she had to pay two full months of fees before she received any universal credit. Without help from family, she says it would have put her in significant debt or made it impossible for her to return to work.
Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed Joeli Brearley said, ‘The childcare system is not working for parents and we know it’s not working for providers. If we are to change the landscape for women and parents, we need to provide properly subsidised childcare from nine months old. The cost of childcare when a parent goes back to work and before they receive the funded hours is punishing.’
Yesterday, MPs debated whether to extend the 15-hour childcare entitlement to working parents of children from the age of nine months.
The Government has said it has no plans to extend the free childcare offer, however.
Sector response
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance said things would not change until the Government tackles the 'long-running issue of early years underfunding'.
'Every year, nurseries, pre-schools and childminders see their costs rise as a result of increases in the national living and minimum wages, rent and mortgage costs, insurance premiums and a range of other business costs - and yet, for years now, Government funding has failed to keep up with this,' he said.
'As a result, many providers have had no choice but to increase parent fees to try and plug this widening funding gap - and it is those parents of younger children, who are not eligible for any Government schemes - who have seen the biggest impact.
'While we fully recognise the stress and pressure that these costs place on working families, rushing to call for so-called "free" childcare schemes to be extended to younger children isn't the answer - because if the Government funds this as poorly as they have been funding the existing offers, the early years sector in this country simply will not survive.
'If we truly want to support parents to be able to access affordable, sustainable and quality early years care and education, we as a country must invest what is needed. We hope with the upcoming Budget and Spending Review, the Government will take the opportunity to do just that.'