Family childcare crisis as holiday clubs close

Parents face a struggle to keep their children occupied over the summer break after the closure of hundreds of holiday clubs.

A government study found the number of places available in sports and arts groups outside term time was down by more than a tenth.

Parents said they could no longer afford to send children to clubs as hourly fees soared by more than a quarter. The survey of childcare arrangements in England also found that thousands of playgroups had closed over the past six years as more parents made use of full-time nurseries. Gordon Brown has promised to expand childcare so that parents have more choice over how they balance work and family life.

But the study for the Department for Children, Schools and Families highlighted the problems parents face finding childcare during holidays. Between 2006 and last year, the numberof places available in holiday clubs, which offer activities such as sport, painting and music, dropped by 13 per cent to 230,300.

Margaret Morrissey of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations said the decline in places reflected rising costs. A full day at a holiday club for two children will set parents back nearly £50. "I think the reason holiday clubs are down is because they have got to make themselves pay and they are becoming prohibitive for parents," she said. Mrs Morrissey said the trend was undermining traditional family holidays.

Many mothers took time off to look after their children during the school holidays while fathers continued to work. They then swapped to avoid "paying a fortune" for a holiday club due to both working at the same time.

The report, Childcare and Early Years Providers, was produced by BMRB Social Research and involved detailed interviews with more than 6,000 childcare workers. Key findings included:

The number of holiday clubs fell nine per cent between 2006 and last year to 5,800.

Holiday clubs cut staffing levels by 25 per cent over the same period.

The typical cost of a holiday club was £2.20 per hour, up 29 per cent since 2006.

The number of playgroups for children aged two to five has fallen by 39 per cent since 2001 but the number of full-time nurseries has increased by 74 per cent.

A DCSF spokesperson said: "This report does not show the whole picture as it does not cover extended schools, which increasingly offer clubs in the holidays as well as in term time. Currently over 12,000 schools are providing extended school services, so this picture will improve as we make all schools extended by 2010."