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UK families face highest costs for childcare: Average weekly nursery bill is £160
By Daniel Martin
23rd August 2010
Working mothers have to fork out more for childcare in Britain than in any other country in the developed world.
A third of family income goes towards nurseries and childminders – almost four times the cost in Germany and three times that of France….
A study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of 32 industrialised nations, found that 33 per cent of a British family’s net income goes towards the cost of childcare.
This is higher than every other country in Europe and the rest of the Western world. German parents pay just 8 per cent of their net income towards childcare, while in France the figure is 11 per cent. Costs tend to be higher in English-speaking countries: 19 per cent in the U.S, 22 per cent in Canada, 28 per cent in New Zealand and 29 per cent in Ireland.
But none exceed the amount paid by British parents. The OECD average is just 13 per cent of income, the report says….
European countries tend to provide much more funding for childcare to allow mothers to continue in work. In Sweden, for example, pre-school places are available from the age of one, and no one pays more than 3 per cent of their monthly income per child.
The OECD report, Gender Brief, compared childcare costs before tax breaks and state help; and then childcare costs after this help. …
Willem Adema, one of the report’s authors, said: ‘The British system is geared towards lower income groups, with various tax credits focused at them….