More than 15,000 protesters marched for reforms to childcare this weekend, because families are sick of paying through the roof just to work.
The Pregnant Then Screwed campaign organised the Halloween-themed March of the Mummies in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle, Norwich, Belfast and Exeter on Saturday.
Thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square in central London, with families including young children wearing bandages, vampire costumes, and witches’ hats, while demonstrators banged drums at the front of the procession.
Protesters held banners reading “The future won’t raise itself” and “They don’t call them working dads” as they marched to Parliament Square.
Singers from choir MumSing performed on a float outside the Houses of Parliament adorned with pink banners reading “March of the Mummies” as mothers carrying babies and young children danced and sang.
Speaking at the protest in central London, organiser Joeli Brearley encouraged the crowd to “force (the government) to listen” to the voices of mothers.
“We need to force them to listen. Thank you for being here, thank you for being part of this moment,” Brearley, the founder of the Pregnant then Screwed charity, said.
“When the policymakers finally do something … they’ll pretend it was all their idea, but we will remember this moment.”
The UK has one of the most expensive childcare systems in the world, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with a full-time place for one child costing around £12,000 a year on average.
All parents are entitled to 570 free hours of childcare per year when their child turns three – usually taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year – but many still have to pay extra charges to nurseries and childminders to account for food and supplies.
Figures show that 43,000 women left work to look after family in the last year, according to a Guardian report. This is a 3% increase on the previous year and part of an ongoing decline.
Here are just some of the eye-opening photos from the protests.