UK childcare costs highest in Europe

British
parents face the highest childcare costs in Europe, according to a Daycare
Trust report.

Daycare
costs have risen 10 per cent in the last year, the report says. The typical
cost of a nursery place for a child under two is now £120 a week – more than
£6,200 a year.

The cost in
London and the South East is much higher – typically £149 a week.

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The report
said prices are being pushed up because demand for childcare places far
outstripped supply, with only one childcare place for every seven children
under eight years of age.

In Europe
childcare services were less pressured partly due to the length of parental
leave ­- 36 months in France and Germany – the report said.