UK parents considering working less in response to childcare costs

One in five British parents with childcare costs will consider reducing the hours they work or giving up work entirely in 2015, according to a survey.

The survey, which was commissioned by the charity 4Children and carried out by Opinium, polled 1,000 parents of children under 16. It found 18% were considering working less or quitting their jobs this year due to the cost of childcare, while 16% indicated they would have to cut back spending on essentials.

Nearly three-quarters of those polled thought the UK’s political parties should do more to help parents with the cost of childcare.

4Children’s chief executive Anne Longfield said: "Childcare represents a huge financial challenge for most parents and our poll shows the real impact costs are having on family life [...] Removing parents’ choice as to whether or not they continue to work after having children is not the answer for families or for the economy."

IZA World of Labor author Erdal Tekin has written about the implications of childcare subsidy policies. In his article, he argues that: "Designing a childcare subsidy policy that promotes parental employment and improves the quality of childcare at the same time is difficult, if not impossible. Given the conflict between the two goals, childcare policy should be more about children and less about parental employment, as high-quality childcare has significant private and societal benefits."

Read more at BBC News.