The Coram Family and Childcare's annual Holiday Childcare Survey has found the summer holiday will be another tough one for most families, with dwindling supply and increased costs in England.
The 18th annual survey found that under a quarter (24%) of local authorities have enough holiday childcare for parents working full-time, a decrease of 2% on 2022, and 23% have enough for children aged 8-11, a 7% decrease on last year. Availability of holiday childcare for disabled children has also continued to fall, with just 5% of local authorities reporting they have enough to meet local demand, down from 7% in 2022.
And while supply has fallen, cost has risen again, by 3% on average.
A place at a holiday club now costs an average of £157 per week, which is 2.3 times higher than what parents pay for an after-school club during term time. This means that families face costs of £943 for six weeks of holiday childcare for each school age child - £538 more than they would pay for six weeks of after-school childcare during term time.
That could, of course, change depending on where you live as a family and so you may be finding the increases hitting harder. Parents in inner London are paying up to 25% more for places than those in East of England - £177 per week compared to £142.
There are also huge price differences within the same area, for example in the East Midlands, where some holiday childcare places cost 104% more than the national average, while others are 58% less.
Coram Family and Childcare are calling on the government to consider not just term-time care in their plans. The Spring Budget announced £289million of funding to support the extension of wraparound care, but only in term time.
The charity is also calling on the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments to:
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Increase support for Family Information Services to provide good quality holiday childcare information and broker access to local provision that meets families’ needs
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Expand provision of school holiday activity and food programmes running in each nation to improve access to affordable, high quality childcare for all children who need it, prioritising children with SEND
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Improve the accessibility of holiday childcare for children with SEND through providing funding, training and support to holiday childcare providers, trialling different approaches through the school holiday activity and food programmes running in each nation
Megan Jarvie, Head of Coram Family and Childcare, said: 'The high of cost of holiday childcare is going to put a further strain on families’ already stretched budgets. Even if families are able to afford these costs, many will struggle to find a place as we have found shortages right across the country.
'Starting school doesn’t mean that childcare needs to end. Instead, many find that it becomes more challenging to find options that are right for their family, particularly during the long school holidays. New Government funding to help improve childcare options during term time is welcome – but families need childcare right through the year.'