Over the course of the current parliament, childcare costs have rocketed by 45 per cent in London – with as much as a 36 per cent increase in Enfield North.
Families in London are now paying £2,268 more per year than they did in 2010 for a part-time nursery place for children aged two and over and are paying 39.5 per cent extra for similar nursery provision for a child under two, despite average weekly wages remaining largely static throughout the capital over the same period.
Whilst childcare in Enfield North tends to be cheaper than the London average, some parents in the constituency have still seen costs for children two and over rise by more than a third, from £97 in 2010 to £132 this year. With the average gross weekly wage for full-time employees in Enfield North at £578, some families are spending over a fifth of their income on childcare.
Many parents in Enfield North have told me about the financial hardship they face. The Tories don’t recognise the pressures many families are under at present. I want to see free childcare for working families with three and four-year-olds extended from 15 to 25 hours and there is no question we need more childcare places.
Joan Ryan
Labour Parliamentary candidate for Enfield North
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