The Daycare Trust has released its annual Childcare Costs Survey, which reveals that the price of childcare in the UK has risen by a massive 27% in the past five years. An average full-time nursery place for a child under two now costs over £7,000 per year, with after-school clubs costing parents around £40 each week.

Early commentators on the survey have argued that rising minimum wage costs and increasingly expensive commercial premises have forced childcare providers to increase their fees.

However, rather than representing greater opportunities for childcare services in the UK, these rising costs are encouraging more parents to find affordable solutions to their childcare problems, including informal care via family and friends. There are growing fears that the cost of childcare will rise to such an extent that many parents will be prohibited from entering employment, seeking training or going into enterprise.