Childcare can put more of strain on the family budget than paying off a mortgage, according to the results of a new study.
The Family and Childcare Trust's annual report shows that a working family with two children in part-time childcare would be looking to pay an average of £7,549 a year, compared to average mortgage repayments of £7,207 per year.
For parents in need of full-time childcare, the outlook is even bleaker: they would be looking at a total price of £11,700 a year - a full 62.
That means a parent today will be forking out £1,214 more on average than a parent in 2009.
A report released last month by the Institute for Public Policy Research suggested that climbing childcare costs were preventing half a million mothers from returning to work.
And even those parents who can find the money to pay the rising costs of childcare could be left scrabbling to find a place for their child. The study found that almost half of all local authorities have insufficient provision for the children of working parents, rising to two-thirds for children aged 5-11.
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