A week on the slopes in the French Alps, plus two sunny weeks in Tuscany - how many families can afford that this year? But while most people find it hard to find over £7,000 for a holiday, working parents with young children may be expected to find at least that amount for nursery fees.
Daycare Trust's annual Childcare Costs survey for 2008 has been published, sponsored by Imagine Co-operative Childcare. It shows cash-strapped families facing above-inflation price hikes in their childcare bills for the seventh year running, and paying on average between £7,000 and £8,000 for a full-time nursery place for a baby or toddler under two.
The survey shows the basic fees charged by childcare settings, and does not include the help available from the Government through tax credits, childcare vouchers and free nursery places when a child is three.
Alison Garnham, Joint-Chief Executive, said: "Daycare Trust urges all parents to make sure they're getting all the help they're entitled to; claiming tax credits - which can cover up to 80 per cent of childcare costs - and vouchers from your employer can cut the cost of childcare considerably. Also, every parent should be aware that they are entitled to 12.5 hours of nursery education free of charge when their child is three. But even so, parents in the UK are still paying a bigger share - around 70 per cent on average - of this spiralling cost than their neighbours in Europe, where the average is nearer 30 per cent."
The yearly cost of a typical nursery place for a child under two is now £8,368 in England , £7,384 in Wales and £7,332 in Scotland. In England the cost of a typical nursery place for a child aged under two has gone up by 5 per cent, more than twice the rate of inflation (currently 2.1 per cent) to an average of £159 per week. This compares with average earnings of £457 per week.
Childminder fees were lower than nursery fees, increasing in line with inflation, with an average rate in England of £144 for under-twos and £142 for children aged two and over.
Welsh parents have suffered the steepest rises, with costs rising by four times the rate of inflation. But in Scotland, costs have actually come down in the last year.
"In the last few years the Government has massively increased the amount of money it invests in high-quality childcare," said Alison. "In light of these figures, however, we think it needs to go further, and expand the free nursery scheme to 20 hours a week, 48 weeks of the year, for all two, three and four-year-olds. We are also calling on them to inject more money into subsidy for out-of-school childcare, a much-needed area where costs are soaring by six times the rate of inflation. For parents in the greatest need, we think this should be free, and for others heavily subsidised."
Daycare Trust surveyed Children's Information Services (CIS) in England, Wales and Scotland, with sponsorship from Imagine Childcare. Responses were provided by 135 out of 198 CIS, a 68 per cent response rate.
In 2005, families spent 11 per cent of their income on childcare - a figure that rose to 20 per cent for those on the lowest incomes.
Out-of-school childcare has increased in price by six times more than the rate of inflation.
"This is a particularly worrying development considering that, from October 2008, lone parents with a youngest child aged 12 or over will be required to start looking for work or lose benefits," said Alison.