Page 8 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 104 - July 2022

THE COSTS OF CHILDCARE

AND

THE DETRIMENTAL IMPACT ON WOMEN’S CAREERS
Despite the encouraging progress in recent years in narrowing the pay gap between males
and females along with associated aspects such as career progression and holding senior po-
sitions, the current situation is deteriorating principally due to the increasing costs of child-
care.
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A recent Sunday Times report (5 June 2022) with the evocative title ‘Held back; the moth-
ers who can’t afford to return to work’ explored this developing problem accompanied by
a drawing showing a woman with a baby on her back and a ball and chain on her ankle la-
belled ‘£274; the weekly cost of a nursery place for a child under two’.
The article cites specific examples of women who found that they were unable to meet child
care costs from their incomes and consequently gave up their jobs while their children were
at home. In recent years the number of ‘economically inactive’ women has fallen however
the trend has stalled in the past few months. At present around 25% of women between 16
and 64 are not seeking work compared with 17% of men. Approximately 28% of the women
are in this category as they are looking after their families compared with 6.9% of the men.
Furthermore, the number of women who are not working due to family commitments has ris-
en by 5% in the past year along; this being the first sustained increase for at least 50 years.
Whilst the pandemic may account for some of these changes it is noticeable that the trend is
higher at 13% among women aged between 25 to 34 years.

The costs of childcare have risen from around £236 per week in 2018 to £274 per week in
2022 apparently forcing more women to cease working. Net childcare costs represent typi-
cally around 29% of income making Britain one of the most expensive countries in the world
to raise children. British parents who are working and meet specific criteria can apply for 30
hours of free childcare per week from 3 years to starting school. However local authority
funding shortfalls result in a lack of money to support this initiative in some areas. Some low
-income families can access free childcare for two year olds but middle income families are
excluded from this offer.
Joeli Brearley founded the charity ‘Pregnant then screwed’ after being sacked two days af-
ter informing her employer that she was pregnant. A survey of her charity members in 2020
established that a third of the mothers who returned to work after giving birth made a loss
or at best broke even. ...