Nursery owners cite the uncertainty of the current economic climate as one of the reasons women are choosing not to take their full maternity leave entitlement.
Providers who might have previously been concerned that extending maternity leave would impact negatively on their business are seeing a rise in the take-up of places for babies.
They also claim that women who might have initially wanted to return to work part-time are under pressure to return to full-time employment rather than using their right to request flexible working.
Redundancy
Treetops Nurseries, which has 20 settings, mainly based in the Midlands, has seen a 20 per cent rise in take-up of places for babies aged from three months to one year.
Managing director of Treetops Nurseries, David Hancock, said, 'More and more parents are cutting short their maternity leave.'
He added, 'There have always been some mothers who always intended to return to work, but they are being joined by mums who are doing this purely because of the economic crisis.'
However, he said that 'occupancy is balancing out' across the board as other parents are withdrawing their children from nursery altogether after being made redundant.
Employer-led
Bristol Childcare, which runs three nurseries in the city, has seen its turnover double in the past year, partly as a result of the increased take-up of baby places. The nursery accepts babies from six weeks of age and the youngest baby attending is two months old.
The group's Priory nursery in Filton has just opened a new wing, doubling the number of childcare places to 42. It can now cater for up to 14 babies, and places are nearly all taken already.
There is no availability at the Clifton nursery until December and at the Knowle nursery until March 2010 for under-twos.
Finance director Matthew Bullock said, 'We are seeing an awful lot of babies at six months and nine months. Mothers are not waiting to go back after a year anymore and are going back full-time instead of part-time. Previously mothers could negotiate going back part-time, but employers are not interested in that. It's employer-led.'
He said that on the one hand, employers are only legally obliged to offer mothers their 'old job back', but in other legislation employers have to offer the right to request flexible working, 'which in the current economic climate is not financially viable'.
Mr Bullock said while one family where both parents had lost their jobs had decided to keep their child in nursery because they did not want to lose their place, another couple had taken their child out of nursery after redundancy.
He added, 'There is a belief that both parents working must be a good thing, even though prices are falling and there is a fear over losing jobs.'
Biggest demand
Denise Barras, director of Les Enfants Nursery in Culloden, Inverness, is opening her second nursery in the town because of the demand for baby places.
Ms Barras recently applied to increase the registrations for under-twos at her first nursery to 24 places.
The new nursery, which opens in Inshes in May, will take 21 babies. Sixty-seven of the nursery's 78 places are already taken.
When Ms Barras opened her first setting in 2006 it was the out-of-school places that went first, but now it is the baby spaces that are most popular.
She said, 'We couldn't keep up with the demand for babies, so we decided to open another nursery. The biggest uptake is in baby spaces. Whereas last year babies were coming in when they were nearly a year, now we're seeing more at four and five months old.'
'Parents are worried that they may be made redundant. Before, I would book them in for a full week and ask them to tell me when they went back to work if they wanted to reduce the hours. But now parents are saying that they've asked for their hours to be cut but their employers won't let them. I think nurseries are doing well out of the credit crunch.'
What childcare organisations say
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said, 'We have heard in recent months that some nurseries are caring for more babies because, due to the current economic climate, mothers are choosing not to use their full maternity entitlement as they are keen to return to work promptly. In some cases, this is due to concerns about the security of their partner's job or mothers are taking on extra hours or choosing full-time work over part-time. This is very positive for those nurseries who are supporting families to cope during this time by providing high-quality childcare. However, it is important to remember that there is a mixed picture and settings are also feeding back that parents are experiencing redundancies and job losses, which will have an impact on the sector.'
Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, said, 'The Working Families helpline team is advising an increased number of women experiencing pregnancy or maternity-related discrimination, which does seem to be a result of the current recession. Women on maternity leave are well protected by employment law, but we are seeing cases where rights are being ignored and women are not being treated fairly. In this climate, it is not surprising that some women are also anxious about discussing plans to work flexibly on return from maternity leave. However, we are also seeing many cases where employers very much welcome the opportunity to reduce costs, and ensure a motivated and committed employee – both of which are critical for riding out the downturn.'
Family and Parenting Institute spokesperson Emma Brennan said, 'Parents say they are worried about money but they do want to work flexibly – it's one of their top priorities. We are concerned that some parents don't have the confidence to ask for flexible working. We would like to see maternity pay increase to the level of the minimum wage.'