Nursery costs hit almost £200 a week

THE cost of sending a child to nursery has soared, new figures show. The average price of pre-school care has increased by 17% in a year. It can now cost an average of £200 a week to send a child to a nursery in some London boroughs.

Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust which carried out the survey of private and council run childcare, described the situation as 'grim'. He said: 'Parents right now need more access to affordable, quality childcare to suit their needs.'

The survey shows that:

The weekly cost of nursery places for a child under two is £197 in inner London and £170 in outer London - compared with an England average of £141.

The highest weekly cost found for a private London nursery place was £350.

The cost of a week at nursery for a child over two is £175 in inner London and £147 in outer London. The English average is £132.

The cost of a childminder is about £144 a week in inner London and £148 in outer London.

The survey looks at average prices for private and state childcare. But a separate Evening Standard study shows prices running almost as high in the State-subsidised sector, where the average cost of a nursery is almost £140 a week. Over a year that adds up to £7,200.

The figures mask wide geographical variations. Some boroughs have no council nurseries at all. Others offer free places, with eligibility based on catchment areas, or parents are means-tested. Lowest fees are in Lambethat £92. Parents in Camden pay £200 a week.

Maggy Meade-King, from pressure group Working Families, said: 'Parents are in a very difficult position. Evening Standard survey shows how expensive childcare is, but parents also face high costs for housing and travel - and often have to commute long distances.'

Meade-King added: 'Families have to make very difficult decisions about how to balance the books. Often the answer is one or both partners working fewer days a week to save on childcare. But then you are earning less.'