Many changes to working practices implemented during Covid have affected the demand for school-aged childcare; parents became experts in balancing the dual needs of their children and their working life in ways like never before and this has continued to impact take up of school-aged childcare places.
Flexible working patterns mean parents can work at home and entertain their child in short bursts. Whilst this may not be ideal for parent or child, where budgets are tight, it is a workable solution.
This slow recovery from Covid has led to a catch-22 situation. Providers are telling us there is insufficient demand and they are having to reduce or close their capacity leading to lower availability for parents who need holiday childcare.
Without central or local government intervention this problem is unlikely to go away. Put simply, without Government support high costs will impact fees, fewer parents will use school aged childcare, provider viability is impacted, providers close and lower availability follows.
Cost of a place
Given the financial pressures many providers are under, the most surprising statistic in the report is that childcare costs have increased by 3 per cent as this is startingly low given the rise in cost of staffing and consumables.
While small price increases will be welcomed by parents, the real or perceived belief that parents cannot pay increased costs is contributing to a reduction in the number of providers.
Childcare in the UK is often cited as some of the most expensive in the world. This does not mean it is the most profitable. Many providers are operating on very low margins and simply cannot absorb increased costs. The notes in the report state providers calculated their own figures.
We acknowledge the strain increased costs put on family budgets and especially those on low- to middle- incomes. It is not fair, viable or prudent to expect providers to pick up this slack. Many of them do not have the financial reserves for this to happen. Government intervention is required to address the issue of cost and availability.
Based on the average cost of £157 per week for holiday childcare and £67 for after school club, the average parent is spending £4,588 per annum on childcare (13 weeks x £157= £2,042 plus 38 weeks x £67 = £2,546).
This dramatically exceeds their Tax-Free childcare allowance of £2,000 per annum. For years, wrap-a-round childcare has considered itself the forgotten sector.
Coram Family and Childcare's recommendations
We broadly support an increased local authority role in brokering access to provision, with the caveat that many providers feel their local authority in general, and schools in particular are working against them.
The most considerable challenge currently faced in the sector is the prospect of schools taking over provision to balance alarming budget cuts, and in some areas, this is being actively advised by local authorities. Trust and partnership working needs to be built in from the ground up.
The considerable data gap, where local authorities could not account for the childcare sufficiency underlines the fact that local authorities are not working closely with providers.