Childcare costs families £1,000 per child in the summer holidays: ‘It makes me feel sick’

Families are facing “eye-watering” childcare bills of more than £1,000 per child during the summer holidays, new research has revealed.

Coram Family and Childcare’s annual holiday childcare survey shows that parents face an average of £1,075 in childcare fees for each child over the six-week break.

That is £179 per child per week and represents a 4% rise on last year’s rates, above inflation.

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Sam Baker-Jackson, a single mum of three children, said that her experiences of childcare costs have been a “nightmare”.

“I’m having to take unpaid leave at work,” she said.

Her children are aged 17, 13 and nine, and she has two boys who are autistic. As they need special education support, she has faced up to £45 a day in charges for holiday childcare.

“How am I going to afford childcare and go to work?” she recalled thinking. “Which one do I need more? Do I need to go to work? Or do I need to go off work long term to look after my children? I haven’t got any family to ask. My parents are working.”

Holiday clubs cost over 2.5 times more than an after-school club during term time, at £179 per week compared to £66.

It is most expensive to go to a holiday club in Wales, where average costs are £209.60 per week, an increase of 6% in comparison to last year.

Yorkshire and Humber has seen the biggest annual price increase of 13% – more than triple the national average – with average costs of holiday childcare now £194.41 each week.

“It makes me feel sick. I don’t have any extra support for my children. I want to be a working mum,” says Barker-Jackson, who is based in Wolverhampton and works for the NHS.

“I want to show my children that you have to work and to encourage them to be the best of their abilities, but with the way childcare is going, what do I balance? How do I pay my rent?”

The average price of a childminder is £234, which is a total of £1,400 for the six-week break.

Rachel Grocott, chief executive of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “There is no job in the world that offers the amount of paid holidays that a parent would need to cover the school holidays, and the summer break is a big chunk of time that parents need to manage.”

She claimed many parents are “racking up debts and taking unpaid leave from work” during the summer holidays and “many parents find their careers suffer as a result”.

“Kids deserve a break from learning and precious family time, but eye-watering holiday club costs and trying to balance work and childcare are no holiday for parents,” Grocott added.

Lydia Hodges, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said: “The need for childcare doesn’t finish at the end of term. Holiday childcare not only helps parents to work but gives children the chance to have fun, make friends and stay active during the school breaks. Yet all too often it is missing from childcare conversations.”

There are also concerns about provisions for childcare. In England, more than half of councils told Coram they did not have sufficient data to produce a clear picture of whether they have enough holiday childcare for the children in their area.

But where information is known, there is the lowest availability for older children, children with parents who work atypical hours, and for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

One parent told Pregnant then Screwed: “I am unable to take a permanent job as one of my children is disabled and there are no clubs that they can attend full-time.”

Baker-Jackson has received support from an OnSide youth zone, The Way, which accommodates her children’s needs with affordable childcare and has given her respite. But she feels “lucky” that she is able to get this support, which is a postcode lottery.

“I’d seriously be lost without The Way,” she says. “It’s incredible.”

Only 9% of councils in England reported having enough places for at least 75% of children with SEND in their area. This falls to 0% in the East Midlands, the East of England and inner London.

Councillor Arooj Shah, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said councils recognise the importance of ensuring there is sufficient provision for children with SEND but “it can be difficult”, particularly given the “challenging situation that many providers face at the moment”.

“Councils work closely with providers to improve access to holiday childcare provision for children with SEND but without investment and recruitment of quality staff this will be difficult to deliver,” Shah said.

“Adequate funding, skilled practitioners and wider system support are essential to the early identification of need and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.”

The UK government has increased funding for childcare for children under five, with a phased expansion of free childcare hours for children who have not yet started school. 

From September 2025, children aged nine months to three years old will be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare each week.

Although this is a welcome move, Hodges raised concerns that without more support for parents of older children it “risks encouraging parents to work while their children are young, only to find out it is not sustainable once their child starts school”.

The government’s holiday activities and food programme (HAF) provides free childcare and healthy food to children who are eligible for free school meals in England, but this is currently due to end in 2026. Coram is calling for it to be maintained.

A government spokesperson said: “We recognise the school holidays can be a pressurised time for parents, which is why this government is putting pounds back in parents’ pockets both during the holidays and in term time.

“We are expanding free school meals to all children whose households are on universal credit, introducing free breakfast clubs in primary schools, and rolling out 30 government funded hours of early education from September – saving families money and helping them balance work with family life.

“We are also continuing to fund free holiday clubs through the holiday activities and food programme which provides six weeks of activities and meals for any child from a low-income family who needs it.”

Coram is also urging the government to expand the scope of its strategy to help parents into work to include school-age children, and it wants to see the childcare element of universal credit to be paid upfront over the school holidays.

Beyond this, Coram wants more childcare provision for older children, those with SEND and those with parents who work atypical hours.

Hodges said: “We need a system that meets the needs of all children, with the ongoing security of free holiday childcare for disadvantaged families and timely help with bills for those who need it, so that no child misses out during school holidays.”

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