Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an estimate of the average proportion of household income that families spent on childcare in each region of the UK in the latest period for which data is available.

The department does not hold the average proportion of household income that families spent on childcare in each region of the UK and, therefore, cannot provide an estimate for this question.

The 2022 Coram Family and Childcare Survey outlines the average prices of childcare in Great Britain and does contain a regional breakdown. This information is available here: https://www.coram.org.uk/sites/default/files/resource_files/Coram%20Childcare%20Survey%20-%202022.pdf

The 2019 childcare and early years survey of parents provided some details around the average weekly costs of childcare in each region. This information is available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2019.

The table below splits out the mean and median family-level weekly payment for childcare by region. These payments are for families with a child aged 0 to 4, who paid a childcare provider (or providers) in a specific week for their children aged 0 to 14.

The survey also showed that the overall median weekly amount paid by families to childcare providers (including both formal and informal providers) was £45.00.