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Tsummer vacation is obviously a time for rest and relaxation but for one father Daniel, a full break means forking out hundreds of pounds in childcare fees that he can’t afford.
She has been able to take two weeks off from her job at Asda to look after her three-year-old son, but when she finishes this week she will have to pay £55 a day for nursery. “I get about £50 a shift – so I’ll either work for free, or work worse,” he said. The Independent.
The newly single father, who is based near Dudley in the West Midlands, has taken out a £600 loan to cover some of the nursery costs. But he was worried about how he would pay them back.
New research from the charity Coram found that parents are spending more than £1,000 per child on average on school summer holiday care – a 6 per cent rise on last year.
The average cost of a place at a holiday club in the UK is now around £175 per week – 2.5 times higher than the cost of an after-school club over term time.
Have you been affected by summer vacation childcare costs? Write to holly.bancroft@independent.co.uk
Daniel, 32, works in a supermarket on Fridays and Sundays, and gets overtime on Tuesdays, and he wants to keep working. She cycles hours to and from work because the nearest Asda store to her has no work available, but she worries she could be penalized by the company or the benefits system if she can’t find childcare for her son.
“I’m worried about having to explain this to my job coach and I’m worried that he’s going to punish me. I’m also worried that I’ll lose my job, because if I lose my job I’ll lose my benefits. He says he has trouble sleeping and feels low because of the cost of treatment growing child.
“I was told that I could claim 85 per cent of childcare costs through universal credit, but only if it was a contracted working day. I wasn’t contracted when the nursery was open and my manager didn’t help. I couldn’t claim any more rebates and they said I couldn’t find a child and If I don’t come to work, I will be fired,” he said.
One place that can help is a social prescribing support service called Dudley Integrated Plus, which works with the local council. “They helped me get bus tickets so I could take my son to the park,” Daniel said.
“The property I’m looking for doesn’t have a communal garden or anything like that. The nearest park that isn’t burnt or damaged is 30 minutes away by bus. They’ve helped me get a bus ticket so I can take my son to Mary Stevens, which is the biggest park in Stourbridge.
“My son likes the bigger garden. It is already warm and they put a water area in it and asked to play in the fountain. He also likes the swing. He is quite active and I feel sorry for him at home when he just watches the older children from the balcony who are playing on the street.
Dudley Integrated Plus also got Daniel a bike so he could ride to work and paid for the carpet in the flat.
Antoinette, 45, has been lucky enough to get a Council-funded place for her five-year-old daughter Ayania to go to the holiday club this summer. She works freelance as a family support worker and a place at a holiday club will allow her to continue working. The council ensures that the daughter gets a hot meal while she is there but Antoinette knows from her own experience and from supporting her family in Brent how expensive childcare is over the summer holidays.
“The placement is only for 15 days so I still need to rest,” he said The Independent. “It’s a catch-22 because you have to use all your vacation time to relax with the kids, but that means you can’t earn money at work.
“It’s £90-plus a week for a child to go to a school club and sometimes you have to provide them with a packed lunch as well. You also have to give them snacks – imagine if you have four or three children of their age, that’s a lot of money.
He added: “You also want your child to be able to travel and sometimes between £10-£20 for each trip. And maybe you want to add two trips so your child doesn’t miss out.
Their eldest son, Atwain, is 18 but has autism and special educational needs, so Antoinette also has to help keep him busy during the summer holidays.
“Last year, it was better because the family welfare center did a lot of activities for young people with special needs up to the age of 25. Funding has been cut now, so not much is available,” he said.
Research by the charity Coram found that in England levels of holiday childcare have fallen across all categories, with only 3 per cent of councils reporting adequate holiday childcare for disabled children.
He asked the government to maintain the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) program – which Antoinette can get a funded holiday club – after the planned end date of March 2025.
Gemma, 42, from Liverpool, is juggling her work as a marketing consultant with looking after her 6-year-old niece, who she is babysitting for.
As her niece is being cared for, she is offered a place at the local council holiday club but she has to turn it down. “They’re open from 9am to 3pm and they’re not always in the local area. I find that it takes me an hour to get there, so that’s two hours out of my day, no work time.
“My niece is also struggling with attachment issues and she has been very angry at the new place,” she said. He chose to pay a holiday club, run by his nephew’s school, for £30 a day so he could live in familiar surroundings.
“If they go in the summer, the total cost is around £900. We’ve decided to do it two days a week and I’ve reduced my working hours to three days. But some days I have to get up at 4am to do four hours before the kids get up ,” said Gemma, who also has a 13-year-old son.
Her husband works shifts as an electrical engineer and helps look after the children when there is time off.
Lucy Peake, CEO of the national charity Kinship, said carers often told the charity that “it is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to find local, affordable childcare during the summer”. She added: “Most kinship carers who have stepped up to raise children from relatives or family friends do not receive ongoing financial support, so finding affordable childcare for the six-week school break can be very difficult, especially for single people. make relatives.”
Alex Stephany, founder of fundraising platform Beam, said he has worked with a number of parents who are raising childcare costs. He added: “It’s clear that unaffordable childcare is a major challenge for many people. For low-income families, childcare costs and ever-rising rents often make life difficult. We work with a range of parents who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
A Department for Education spokesman said: “Too often, childcare is unavailable or unaffordable, particularly for disadvantaged children or those with additional needs – and we are determined to rebuild opportunities for every child.
“Local authorities are expected to offer holiday activities and the same six-week Food programme, which provides free meals, activities and childcare places for children from low-income families.”
An Asda spokesman said: “It’s our colleagues who make Asda so we continue to invest in retail pay to be the highest paying traditional supermarket. We also have a range of benefits available to support our colleagues’ wellbeing outside the workplace, including offering flexible shift patterns, flexible wage services and access to mentoring and financial support.
“We would encourage colleagues who have concerns about their situation outside of work to access these benefits and discuss this with their first line manager, so we can work together to better understand their situation and provide appropriate support.”
