The 18th annual Holiday Childcare Survey is based on surveys from local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, which were returned to Coram Family and Childcare between April and June 2023.
Most working parents do not have enough annual leave to cover the 13 weeks of school holidays so they will need to make alternative childcare arrangements.
This report provides detail on the cost and availability of childcare in Britain for children aged 4 to 14 years during the 13 weeks of school holiday per year.
Key findings
- The average price of holiday childcare is £157 per week in Britain. This is a 3 per cent rise since 2022.
- Only 24 per cent of local authorities in England have enough holiday childcare for parents working full time. Scotland has also seen a decrease in the proportion of local authorities reporting sufficient childcare ‘in all areas’ across almost all categories of holiday childcare. Conversely, Wales has seen an increase in the proportion of local authorities reporting sufficient childcare ‘in all areas’ across all categories of holiday childcare except ‘parents working atypical hours’ and ‘children in rural areas’ where no local authorities reported sufficiency this year or last.
- 52 per cent of local authorities report that their local ‘holiday activities and food programme (HAF)’ in England improves access to holiday childcare for children with SEND at least ‘a little’ (consisting of 14 per cent reporting ‘improves access a lot’ and 39 per cent reporting ‘improves access a little’).
- 34 per cent of local authorities in England ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that the HAF programme helps to provide sufficient childcare for working parents (consisting of 30 per cent saying they ‘agree’ and 4 per cent saying they ‘strongly agree’).