Mums-to-be are paying sign up fees before they’ve even given birth (Picture: Getty Images)
If the UK’s childcare system wasn’t already broken enough, nurseries are now charging parents-to-be to put their child on a waiting list — before they’re even born.
Alongside eyewatering average fees of £13,000 per year for a child under two, 34% of nurseries are asking parents for upfront non-refundable payments purely to register their interest.
That’s according to new data, which reveals the average sign-up fee throughout the UK is £71, but in some cities it runs into double figures.
Not only are these payments often non-refundable, they don’t guarantee a child’s place at a nursery – especially since many are oversubscribed at the moment.
As a result, some parents are being forced to fork out for waiting list fees at multiple providers, leaving them even worse off amid the cost of living crisis.
Others are doing their best to get a spot by applying as early as possible – including before a baby is born.
The average fee is highest in London (Picture: Getty Images)
According to Direct Line Life Insurance, 89% of nurseries in London require non-refundable payments to place a child on their waiting list, and while the average sits at £103, many parents are spending far more.
The practice was less common in Belfast and Birmingham, where 44% of childcare providers were found to ask for cash ahead of registration.
Those that did in the Northern Irish capital charged an average of £30, making it the lowest fee among the cities studied.
In Leeds, average nursery waiting list fees were calculated at £85, while in cities like Bristol, Exeter and Manchester the figure is closer to £50.
London is the most expensive and Belfast is the least (Picture: Metro.co.uk/Getty)
I’ve paid hundreds in registration fees to land my son a spot at nursery
One mum, who didn’t wish to be named due to the competitive nature of nursery places and the fear her child might be denied a spot if she identified herself, told Metro.co.uk she’d paid £300 to two nurseries for registration fees. She’s eight months’ pregnant.
‘We were unable to visit the first nursery before registering due to long waiting lists and they’re unable to confirm if we will get a place until up to six weeks before the baby is due to start,’ she explained. ‘But, if they cannot place him, the £200 we paid (which doesn’t go towards childcare) will be refunded.’
She and her partner were able to visit the second, and were told that a £100 registration fee would guarantee her child a place when they are born.
Metro Lifestyle’s editor, Rachel Moss, has had a personal taster of the system too. Her baby is due in April, but she’s already ‘panicking’ about childcare.
‘I thought we had loads of time to get this sorted (my son’s not even been born!) but there was a collective gasp from my antenatal group recently when I revealed we hadn’t even thought about childcare yet.
‘One woman with a similar due date to mine revealed she’d spent £200 to get her baby on a waiting list for a local nursery, saying there were 50 (yes, Five Zero) couples ahead of them. My heart broke a bit; it was the nursery closest to my house, the one I’d naively assumed I’d drop my son at when I return to work.
‘Another woman said she’d heard of couples putting their hypothetical children on waiting lists while trying to conceive. The system is utter madness. What if you move home, or have a financial change in circumstance? What if, God forbid, something goes wrong during the birth? As a first-time mum, how are you possibly meant to plan for every scenario? The system causes stress for parents-to-be at a time when we’re already processing a huge life change. It urgently needs addressing.’
Hannah Donnison, product manager for Direct Line Life Insurance, commented: ‘It’s not surprising that some parents find it unaffordable to cover the upfront costs of nurseries before even securing a place, especially in circumstances where many might not have had income for a few months or it’s been reduced while on maternity or paternity leave.
‘Individual nurseries are known to take different approaches, but a large percentage do charge additional fees so make sure to look for these when doing your research.’
She recommends looking into your eligibility for either the Government’s tax free childcare scheme or childcare vouchers, which may help lessen the load.
Free childcare schemes in the UK
Under the tax-free childcare scheme, you can get up to £500 every three months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the cost of childcare, which goes up to £1,000 every three months (up to £4,000 a year) if your child is disabled.
This can be spent with approved childcare providers such as childminders, nurseries, nannies, after school clubs and play schemes, and eligibility is based on factors like whether you’re working, your income, immigration status and your child’s age.
Working parents of three to four-year-olds in England can also access 30 hours of free childcare per week during term time, but this is only open to households where the parent or parents earn between £8,670 and £100,000 per year. From April this year, working parents of two-year-olds will be able to apply for 15 hours of free childcare per week during term time too, with children from nine months included from September.
Although the childcare voucher scheme is now closed for applications, anyone who joined before October 2018 and still works with the same employer can continue to use their vouchers.
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