 Childcare can be very costly |
Working women with young children are having to set aside up to two-thirds of their earnings just to pay for childcare, according to new research. The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) study showed that women have to work on average for three-and-a-half hours to pay for a days nursery care.
Women on average are more poorly paid than men and have as a result to work longer to pay for childcare.
Mothers in London and the South East, and workers in low paid industries such as catering and retail, are the worst hit.
Pay gap
The study carried out by the Labour Research Department for the Union showed that women in the affluent South East have to work for 4.6 hours to pay for one day's nursery.
 These figures represent the spiralling cost of childcare to families  |
Based on a seven-hour working day, that means 66% of the day's earnings are being spent just on childcare costs.
As for low-paid workers, their wages are often inadequate to cover the cost of care; as a result they have to rely heavily on relatives and older children looking after their siblings.
Across the UK, women working in catering have to work 4.5 hours, domestic workers and retail check-out operators 4.4 hours.
"Not only do these figures represent the spiralling cost of childcare to families but they also show how the gender pay gap makes it more difficult for women to afford childcare," said Diane Holland of the TGWU.
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