“I’m pissed off and skint. I’m just working to pay for childcare”

Ali, 43, south London
Single co-parent with one child, age 9
Childcare cost: £22 a day for after-school clubs
Household annual income: £32,000–£39,000

“I feel pissed off and skint most of the time, and like I’m just working to pay for childcare and my main bills. But I need to work. I didn’t put any thought into the cost at all until I had a child. I lived in ignorant bliss pre-parenthood. A big factor in terminating my second pregnancy was that I couldn’t afford another child.

“Pre-pandemic it was very difficult to ask for flexible hours and work from home or even to finish 30 minutes early twice a week to be able to do nursery pickup. I needed a full-time salary but couldn’t see how I could work for one and be able to do drop-offs and pickups. Post-Covid, working from home has transformed things for the better with so much more flexibility available now. But if the government wants mothers to get into work then they need to listen to parents and provide decently funded nurseries and other forms of childcare. They also need to pay childcare workers properly and allow people to work flexibly and just get their shit together.”

“We are considering taking a loan to help cover the cost”

Mary Penny, 38, London
Living with partner and two children, ages 9 months and 4
Childcare cost: £1,800 a month (£21,600 a year)
Household annual income: £69,000–£75,000

“Paying for nursery four and a half days a week accounts for most of my salary and we are considering taking out a loan to help cover the cost. My first pregnancy was unplanned so I didn’t know much about the cost of childcare then. When I was pregnant a second time we decided the sacrifice was worth it for our child to have a sibling. But it also means that we have no savings or security. We planned to renovate our home which is now on hold. We have switched supermarkets and no longer holiday abroad.”

“Schools should go on until later to accommodate working families”

Lara, 42, London
Married with one child, age 6
Childcare cost: £25,000 per year for a nanny five days a week
Household annual income: £165,000–£175,000

“We chose a nanny based on the number of hours I wanted to see my child, the flexibility it would give us as parents and the ability for them to be at home as much as possible. I think schools should go on until later to accommodate working families. That doesn’t mean lessons, that means more time for children to be children. More affordable holiday activities for children that don’t start at 9am and finish at 3pm.”

“I knew it was going to be shocking”

Claire, 38, London
Married with two children, ages 18 months and 4
Childcare cost: £230 a day for nursery; £44,000 a year for a nanny
Household annual income: more than £200,000

“I feel disgusted paying that amount; it should be before tax. I knew the costs would be shocking, and they are. Childcare costs should come out of your gross salary before tax, not after being taxed already.”

Barely manageable and more than a mortgage: 20 women share exactly how much they spend on childcare