Alliance comments on 4Children childcare cost survey

9th January 2015

Commenting on the findings of a new survey commissioned by 4Children, which found that 18% of parents are considering reducing their hours at work or giving up their job because of the cost of childcare, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said:

“It is concerning to see the impact that high childcare costs continue to have on the lives of many families. We firmly believe that all parents should be able to access childcare that is both affordable and high-quality - however, the hard truth is that unless the government starts investing what is needed into the sector, the challenges currently facing parents are likely to continue.

“As our recent independent-commissioned report into childcare funding revealed, government funding for the free childcare scheme only covers four out of every five places- with early years providers left to make up the shortfall. Many have seen little to no increase in funding for several years now, while business costs have continued to rise -as a result, in some cases, providers have had no choice but to increase their fees in order to stay afloat.

“While additional support for parents via tax-free childcare is welcome, it is ultimately a short-term solution which does not address the underlying cause of childcare cost rises. The government must face up to the problem of sector underfunding, otherwise both providers and parents will continue to struggle.”

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Notes for editors

  1. The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England.
  2. Through direct provision and its membership of 14,000 nurseries, sessional pre-schools and parent and toddler groups, the Alliance supports over 800,000 children and their families in England. The Alliance also develops and runs family learning programmes, offers information and advice, runs acclaimed training and accreditation programmes and campaigns to influence early years policy and practice.
  3. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website:

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