The annual survey by the Daycare Trust into the cost of childcare, published this week, reveals the soaring price of childcare in the capital and the south-east. It found the most expensive place for a child under two is in inner London at more than 350 a week.
Throughout the rest of England, the price of a typical nursery place for a child under two has risen above the inflation rate for the fourth year running, by an average of 5 per cent.
For the first time the survey also looked at the cost of childcare in Scotland and Wales. The figures were compiled from information provided by 135 Children's Information Services. Eighty-nine services reported that parents told them there was a lack of quality, affordable childcare in their area.
The survey also found that across the UK, the average help with childcare costs parents were awarded through the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit was 51.35 a week.
Another survey of parents carried out by the London Borough of Camden in September 2004, as part of its Families Need Childcare campaign, found that the majority of middle- and low-income families in the borough could not afford the 250 per week average cost of a full-time nursery place.
A council spokesman said, 'We found that the situation is desperate for many parents in Camden and it is almost certain that parents all across London are facing the same sorts of problems. Most parents cannot afford childcare because it is so expensive, and affordable places are in very short supply.'
A working mother from north London, who has two children aged nine months and three years, told Nursery World how she was forced to move her children from a private day nursery in Golders Green last September because of an increase in fees from around 800 to 1,000 a month. She said, 'I was happy with every aspect of the nursery and I was reluctant to move them. But within the space of a month I had to fork out an extra 20 a day. It just wasn't feasible.'
As the survey shows, rising fees are not confined to London and the south-east. Last year's increase to the national minimum wage and the hike in business rates have forced Claire Botham, managing director of Early Birds Private Day Nursery in Chorley, Lancashire, to put up fees for the second year running.
From March parents will have to pay an extra 10 per cent on top of last year's increase. She said, 'I employ 18 staff and changes to the minimum wage - along with increases in insurance premiums and rising business rates - have forced me to raise fees an extra 12 on average per week.'
Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, confirmed these reasons for fee increases, along with a falling occupancy in private nurseries as three- and four-year-olds took up free places on school sites.
'It's not just about parental choice,' said Ms Murphy. 'Some schools don't offer parents the choice and say they wouldn't be able to guarantee a place when the child starts school.'
She also said that more local authorities are moving to a one-point entry system, with children starting school only in September, which has had a knock-on effect on nursery occupancy.
* The weekly cost of a nursery place for a child under two, and two and over respectively, is: inner London 197, 175; outer London 170, 147; south-east 162, 155; south-west 141, Pounds 132; East of England 148, 134; West Midlands 114, Pounds 112; East Midlands 118, 116; Yorkshire/Humberside 124, 116; north-west 118, 114; north- east 119, Pounds 114; England average 141, 132; Scotland 122, 117; Wales 120, 115. The average cost for a childminder place was around 125 a week.