Where in the UK is childcare most affordable?

For many families, early parenthood is a moment for consolidation: taking fresh stock of household income and expenditure and figuring out how to secure long-term financial security and wellbeing. And for many parents, this begins with weighing up the benefits or necessities of going back to work versus remaining at home with the children.

Around 77.2% of mothers with dependent children in Scotland and Wales work, and around 74.8% in England, although research suggests that 27% of mothers either don’t return to work or leave within 12 months of returning from childbirth if they do. Historically, this effect has been particularly felt in London, although more recent figures are not available.

However, this dilemma of whether to return to work has become acute in the 2020s, with a Local Government Association report noting that “[c]hallenges caused by the systematic underfunding of early years provision are being exacerbated by the rising cost of living and inflationary pressures.” The report also notes that children who haven’t had access to quality childcare at the pre-school stage may find themselves more than 18 months “behind their peers” by the time they sit their GCSE exams at age 16.

But the economic challenge facing parents differs depending on local salary levels and childcare costs. To find which UK regions, cities and authorities are most and least affordable for childcare, Moorepay calculated the average hourly childcare cost in each location as a percentage of the local average hourly disposable income for two parents, using data from government sources. (Please note, Northern Ireland was excluded from our study due to a lack of available data.)

First, we calculated the average cost of childcare in 49 of the UK’s biggest cities using pricing data from the Department for Education’s “Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey” (England), Gov.Scot’s Early Learning and Childcare report (Scotland), and Coram’s Childcare Survey (Wales).

We then sourced the average hourly disposable income for each city from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

We found that in Edinburgh, average hourly childcare is £6.73, which is 20.9% of the average hourly disposable income for two people (£32.18). This 20.9% affordability score makes Edinburgh the most affordable major city for childcare in the UK.

Next, we ranked the mainland UK regions by childcare affordability compared to average local disposable income.

We found that although London has the highest average childcare cost (£8.98 per hour), the average amount of disposable income per couple per hour in the capital (£44.38) is high enough to make it the most affordable region for childcare. An hour of childcare in London costs just 20.2% of the disposable income left over from two average adults’ hourly wages.

Local authorities in the East and South East of England dominate among those with the most affordable childcare compared to disposable income.

The South East authorities of Elmbridge and Sevenoaks are first and third most affordable respectively. This is despite Elmbridge having the 35th-highest childcare fees in the UK among the 347 local authorities in our study. These costs are offset by Elmbridge having the sixth-highest level of disposable income, at £26.84 per hour or £53.68 for a couple. At these rates, hourly childcare costs just 14.7% of the average couple’s hourly disposable income.