Nursery fees ‘to rise by £1,000 this year’ as childcare providers struggle with costs – forcing parents to quit work
The soaring cost of childcare in the UK is revealed in new figures today, suggesting nurseries will raise fees by £1,000 this year.
A survey of 1,156 providers by the Early Years Alliance found nine out of 10 expect to increase fees, typically in April, and by an average of 8% – higher than in previous years.
Cost of living – latest: Semi-skimmed milk and children’s jeans – the details behind inflation
UK childcare costs are already among the most expensive in the world, with full-time fees for a child under two at nursery reaching an average £269 a week last year – or just under £14,000 annually.
An 8% rise would take that to more than £15,000.
Three and four-year-olds in England attending a nursery or childminder are eligible for either 15 or 30 free hours a week depending on whether their parents work, so their costs are a lot lower.
There are different schemes in Wales and Scotland.
But the concern is that by this stage many parents – particularly mothers – have felt forced to drop out of work or cut their hours.
Tory MPs have been pressing the chancellor to take measures to make childcare more affordable in the March budget in order to reduce pressure on families, and enable more women to re-enter the workforce.
But an option to extend free hours to all two-year-olds is understood to have been ruled out.
Most nurseries and childminders surveyed – 87% – said the money they get from the government does not cover their costs to provide the “free” hours – leaving them out of pocket.
More than half of providers (51%) said they had operated at a loss last year. A handful said they were looking at fee increases of as much as 25%.
Becky Burdaky, 26, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, told Sky News she had taken the “daunting” decision to leave her job in sales after having her second child, Bobby, last year.
Her daughter Harriet, aged three, goes to pre-school near their home, but the family found the costs they would face for their baby son beyond their reach.
She will stay at home and they will live on the wages of her partner Steve, an electrician.
‘Not asking other people to pay for my kids’
Becky said: “When we looked into the fees it was £70 a day – it would have been all of my wage. With Harriet it was about £54, so that’s a huge difference.
“And if he was home poorly, I wouldn’t get paid but I’d still have to pay his fee. Once we sat down and worked it out I would have been paying to go to work.
“I never envisaged myself being a stay-at-home mum, you know just cooking and cleaning and bringing up children, as I’ve always worked.
Becky says she could be starting from the bottom again when she returns to work
“It’s our decision to have children – I’m not asking other people to pay for my children. And I definitely don’t want people’s taxes to go up because of it.
“But I think slightly subsidising the cost of fees so it’s affordable for working parents means we can work and contribute.
“You don’t know what it’s going to be like when you return to work, you’re starting from the bottom.”
The campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed surveyed 27,000 parents last year and found nearly two thirds paid more for childcare than their rent or mortgage.
Although childcare costs have risen significantly in recent years, many providers are struggling to stay in business – with 5,400 closing their doors in the year to August 2022.
Fees for the youngest children, aged under three, are often used to keep the nurseries in business, and the rising cost of living means parents are cutting back.
‘I’ve put my savings in to cover wages’
Delia Morris is the owner of Morris Minors pre-school in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, where children used to start aged two but are now increasingly starting at three.
She is paid £5.41 an hour by the local authority for their free hours, but says providing it costs her around £7.
“Children come in later, when they are funded,” she said.
“That’s had a huge impact. I did raise my fees a very small amount this year but it doesn’t cover it because we only have one or two children doing a couple of sessions a week [that parents pay for].
“I’ve had to put my own savings in to cover the wages last summer, and the staff had to drop a session.”
As to what the government should do, she said: “They have to put money in. It’s difficult to say, but I have to be realistic that if I can’t make ends meet I will have to close and that’s it.”
Delia Morris says the government should provide extra funding for childcare
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said the organisation had closed half of the 132 nurseries it operated in the last four years.
“They are exclusively in areas of deprivation, which seems to fly in the face of any levelling up agenda. These are families and children who would benefit most from support and care,” he said.
According to the OECD, the UK tops the table for the proportion of a mother’s income taken up by childcare costs – based on two children in full-time care.
‘The gender pay gap just explodes’
Christine Farquharson, education economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said childcare costs for two-year-olds have risen twice as fast as inflation in the past decade – with a lasting effect on women’s pay.
“We ended up in a situation where the youngest children have the highest prices they’re ever going to pay, with the least access to government support,” she said.
“And it’s coming at this critical moment where parents are making decisions about whether or not to go back to work after they’ve been on parental leave.
“When mothers – and it is mostly mothers – make that choice to step back from the labour market it’s not just those few years. The gender pay gap just explodes and literally takes decades to come back to anything approaching the situation before they became parents.”
Proposals, championed by Liz Truss, to increase the ratio of children looked after by each adult, have attracted opposition from nurseries and parents.
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But Tory MPs are pressing the government to help parents with the cost of childcare by reducing business rates for nurseries or extending free hours to two-year-olds.
Robin Walker, chair of the education select committee, said some of the existing schemes are not working effectively – such as tax-free childcare – for which uptake is only around 40%.
Universal Credit claimants are also eligible to have up to 85% of their childcare costs funded but are put off by having to make upfront payments.
“There is money there that isn’t being used,” he said. “Upfront payment for Universal Credit and tax-free childcare are putting a lot of parents off using them at all.
“The government is already spending more than any previous government has in this space, but other countries in Europe are spending more particularly in the 0-2 age bracket.
“If we were to make the case for more investment it would unlock those opportunities for people to continue in the workplace and stimulate children in the early years.”
If they win power, Labour have promised an expansion of childcare from the end of maternity leave until the start of primary school.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Philipson told Sky News this would be a “key battleground issue” at the next election.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We recognise that families and early years providers across the country are facing financial pressures and we are currently looking into options to improve the cost, flexibility, and availability of childcare.
“We have spent more than £20bn over the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare and the number of places available in England has remained stable since 2015, with thousands of parents benefitting from this.”
A South African man, with eyes darkened by sleepless nights, tells us his older brother was lured into fighting for Russia on the frontline in Ukraine’s raging Donbas region.
“To them, it’s a suicide mission because they have never been trained for the military. They don’t have military training – they don’t have military experience,” says Bongani, whose name we have changed for his safety.
In the hidden back garden of a modest hotel in KwaZulu-Natal province, he continues: “They don’t have experience of any war. They are just bodyguards who want to get a job and provide for their families. That’s all.”
Bongani says his brother travelled to Russia on a flight via Dubai after being told he would be receiving bodyguard training along with at least 16 other South African men. After signing a contract in Russian, their fate was sealed.
Bongani, not his real name, tells Yousra his brother was on a ‘suicide mission’
“The problems started when they were moved from Russia to Ukraine, and they asked them: ‘Guys – where are we going now because we are here for training?’
“And then the Russians said: ‘Training for what? We don’t know anything about training – what we know is that you’ve signed the contract. You are under our command now – under the Russian army.'”
How is this happening?
Sky News has seen harrowing SOS video messages from South African men who describe entrapment and deployment to the frontline in Ukraine.
In one video, a man in military fatigues details the moment they signed their contracts. He claims Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, encouraged them to sign away their lives.
“We refused to sign the contract forms because it was written in Russia, which we didn’t understand. We asked them for a translator – someone who can translate the language. They said there was no network,” he says in fluent English.
“That is when Duduzile came with a guy by the name of Khosa. She said we must sign the contract because it is the same thing they did. Duduzile said she is doing the same course we are doing, the same training, and that unfortunately she won’t be with us because she is training somewhere else.”
“Yes, we agreed. We did sign the forms because we trust the lady, Duduzile.”
South African men claim they were trafficked by Duduzile Zuma, daughter of the country’s former president – allegations she denies
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is accused of trafficking South African men – including eight of her own relatives – for mercenary recruitment by her half-sister Nkosazana Bonganini Zuma-Mncube, who has filed police charges against her.
She denies the allegations and says she was a victim of deception, misrepresentation, and manipulation.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) say they are currently investigating the charges. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has resigned as a member of parliament and has not responded to our request for comment.
Former president Jacob Zuma with his daughter Duduzile Zuma, wearing “I Stand With Russia” T-Shirt in 2023. Pic: @DZumaSambudla/X
Five hours away in Johannesburg’s Gauteng province, we watched as another case of suspected mercenary recruitment played out in a South African magistrate’s court.
Five suspects were ushered out into a crowded courtroom in Kempton Park after being arrested on their way out of Johannesburg’s Oliver R Tambo airport following a tip-off to the police that they were allegedly travelling to Russia via the United Arab Emirates.
Five people suspected of attempting to join Russia’s war effort in Ukraine appear in a Johannesburg court
Among the five suspects is Patricia Mantuala, 39, suspected of recruiting the men
The line-up is sullen as the three young men on one end of the stand look down at their hands. The youngest is only 21 years old.
At the other end of the stand is a 39-year-old woman called Patricia Mantuala, who stands accused of recruiting them. The five suspects were eventually granted bail by the court after a postponed hearing.
Read more from Sky News:
G20 overshadowed by Ukraine
Alleged mercenary arrested in London
Is time running out for Ukraine?
Colonel Katlego Mogale, a spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the HAWKS, told Sky News and other journalists in a news conference that they are not ruling out the possibility that more suspects will be arrested.
South Africa’s specialised police unit is investigating a growing recruitment drive
Amid signs of a growing recruitment drive, the families of those who say they are trapped fighting for Russia in Ukraine are advocating for their loved ones to return home – against all odds.
“You are dealing with people who are well known in South Africa and in South Africa nobody’s safe and we may never know what’s going to happen next to us,” says Bongani.
“What’s going to happen to our family?”
World
Imran Khan’s sons ‘fear they may never see him again’ as former Pakistan PM ‘held in death cell’
The sons of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan have said they fear they might never see their father again as he is being “psychologically tortured” in a “death cell”.
Speaking to Sky News’ The World with Yalda Hakim, Kasim and Sulaiman Khan said they had not spoken to their father, who has been in prison since August 2023, for months.
Imran Khan’s sons being interviewed by Yalda Hakim
Kasim described the conditions the former Pakistani leader has been kept, saying: “He’s been in a solitary confinement cell for over two years where he’s had filthy water, he is around inmates who are dying of hepatitis, the conditions are disgusting and also he is completely isolated from any human contact.”
He continued: “It’s getting harder to see a route out at this point. We’re trying to have faith. But at the same time, right now, the conditions are getting worse.
“It’s very hard to see a way out… We’re now worried we might never see him again.”
Kasim said his father was being subjected to “psychological torture tactics” as even the prison guards weren’t allowed to communicate with the former Pakistani leader, who led the country between 2018 and 2022.
Imran Khan, pictured in March 2023 before his arrest on corruption charges. File pic: Reuters
Sulaiman said his father’s cell, where he allegedly spends 23 hours a day, has been described as a “death cell”.
He said an army spokesperson announced on Friday that Imran Khan, who has in the past been shot three times, was now officially in full isolation.
He added that Imran Khan was being kept in “completely substandard conditions that don’t meet international law for any sort of prisoner”.
The brothers’ words echo what one of Khan’s sisters reported after being allowed to meet the former cricketer in prison at the start of the month.
Uzma Khanum said at the time that Khan was facing isolation and psychological strain in prison following weeks in which his family said access had been blocked.
The former leader was jailed after being convicted in a string of cases that he says were politically driven following his ousting in a 2022 parliamentary vote.
Before launching his political career, Imran Khan was best known as a star of international cricket and for leading Pakistan to Cricket World Cup victory in 1992.
Kasim said his father would “never take a deal and leave all of his other party members in jail to die and fester in these jails…
“Instead he stays in those conditions, happy to rot and it means that he can move towards his goal of ridding Pakistan of corruption, a goal that he has stated to us a million times.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, a Pakistani government spokesperson, will be speaking to Yalda Hakim tonight on Sky News from 9pm.
French football champions Paris Saint-Germain have been ordered to pay former player Kylian Mbappe 60 million euros (£52.6m) by a Paris court.
A Paris labour court found on Tuesday that Mbappe was due three months in unpaid wages, as well as an ethics bonus and a signing bonus, under his employment contract with PSG.
It was noted that the sums were recognised by the French Professional Football League (LFP) in September and October 2024, and that there was no evidence of an agreement showing that Mbappe had waived his entitlement to them.
Judges thus rejected the club’s argument that the 26-year-old French forward should forfeit unpaid wages entirely, but did dismiss his additional claims of concealed work, moral harassment and breach of the employer’s duty of safety.
Kylian Mbappe was PSG’s record goal scorer and won six league titles with the club. File pic: AP
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Mbappe’s lawyer Frederique Cassereau said: “We are satisfied with the ruling. This is what you could expect when salaries went unpaid.”
In a statement, his legal team also said: “This judgment confirms that commitments entered into must be honoured. It restores a simple truth: even in the professional football industry, labour law applies to everyone.”
PSG ‘reserving right to appeal’
PSG said in a statement that it “takes note of the ruling handed down by the Paris labour court, which it will comply with, while reserving the right to appeal”.
The statement added: “Paris Saint-Germain has always acted in good faith and with integrity, and will continue to do so.
“The club is now looking to the future, built on unity and collective success, and wishes the player all the best for the remainder of his career.”
Now playing for Real Madrid, Mbappe had taken PSG to court over earnings he said were withheld for April, May and June 2024 – before he left the club for Spain on a free transfer.
File pic: Reuters
Lawyers for the striker argued he was owed more than 260m euros (£227m), and that his fixed-term contract should be reclassified as a permanent one.
Judges on Tuesday did not view Mbappe’s contract with PSG as a permanent one, which limited the scale of possible compensation.
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PSG argued that Mbappe had acted disloyally by concealing for nearly a year his intention not to renew his contract, and sought 440m euros (£385m) over damages and a “loss of opportunity” after he left on a free transfer.
In the last year of his contract, he was linked with a world record transfer to Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal, which Sky Sports News reported at the time to be worth £259m.
PSG signed Mbappe on loan with a mandatory purchase option of 180m euros (£165.7m) from AS Monaco in 2017, making him the second-most expensive player and most expensive teenage footballer in history.
While playing for the Parisians, he won six league titles and scored 256 goals in all competitions, making him the club’s all-time top goal scorer.
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