Parents 'face increase in nursery fees' as childcare costs continue to spiral

Four in five parents in Scotland are facing an increase in their childcare costs, according to new research.

Data from charity and campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed shows 80% of parents have already received an increase or are expecting costs to go up.

Accessibility is also a problem, with almost half (48%) of parents facing a waiting list of six months or longer, while a third (30%) say there is a nine-month waiting list to access their local childcare provider.

Less than a third of parents believe the Scottish Government will deliver on its promise to expand funded childcare for all children under three.

Carole Erskine, the charity’s head of policy and campaigns in Scotland, said: “Our data shows that childcare in Scotland is neither affordable, nor accessible.

“The Scottish Government has repeatedly paid lip service to this issue, claiming they will bring costs down, but to date, we have seen little action.

“Meanwhile, waiting lists are so long, some parents are forced to put their baby’s name down for a place when they are in their first trimester of pregnancy.

“Parents who are already accessing funded childcare are also seeing an increase in fees to account for underfunding from local authorities – 85% say that their fees have increased or they are about to increase.

“There is little point in throwing more money at a broken system when we don’t understand the problem. That is why we are calling on the Scottish Government to commission an independent review of the early learning and childcare system.

“The review would make detailed recommendations on how to ensure costs come down, whilst availability increases, and quality improves, placing efficiency at the heart of any future plan.”

A collective of charities and organisations have now united to ask the government to conduct an urgent review of childcare costs and availability.

They have also launched a petition that calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the government to commission an independent review of publicly-funded early learning and childcare in Scotland.

Carmen Martinez, spokesperson for the Scottish Women’s Budget Group said: “Our Childcare Survey 2023 showed that 16% of those eligible for funded ELC (early learning and childcare) were not able to access these hours due to a lack of flexibility in service provision.

“We also know through our work with Fa’side Women and Girls Group and Making Rights Real that families who qualify for the 1140 hours funded childcare raised that the way in which this was delivered locally impacted on women’s ability to find suitable work or to increase their earnings. This is why we support a review of the current ELC policy in Scotland.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The hours of funded ELC on offer have almost doubled since 2021, making Scotland the only part of the UK to offer 1,140 hours a year of funded ELC to all 3 and 4-year-olds and eligible 2-year-olds regardless of their parents’ working status.

“The Scottish Government is investing £1 billion this financial year to deliver 1,140 hours despite the very challenging financial circumstances we are facing as a result of budget decisions made by the UK Government.

“We are also continuing to work with local authorities to increase uptake of our funded childcare offer for two-year-olds, and testing new systems of childcare through our investment in six local authorities with Early Adopter Communities, delivering targeted childcare for families who need it most.”