It’s certainly not often that you’ll find the words ‘London’ and ‘affordable’ coexisting in a sentence, but it turns out that miracles really do happen, folks. Because recent research from payroll company, Moorepay, has revealed where in the UK working parents can find the most affordable childcare. And London somehow managed to top the charts.
Using pricing data from government sources and figures from the Office for National Statistics, Moorepay was able to calculate the average hourly cost of childcare and compare it to the average hourly disposable income in 49 of the UK’s biggest cities. Once the numbers were thoroughly crunched, a list of the most affordable cities for childcare was revealed – and London was perched up at number 3. But that’s not all. The study then looked at each of the regions in mainland UK to find which of them was the most affordable for childcare overall. And on that list, London found itself at the very top.
Despite London boasting the highest average childcare costs (£8.98 per hour), the research revealed that the average amount of hourly disposable income per couple in the capital city (£41.29) was high enough to secure London the top spot as the most affordable childcare region in the country. The average hour of childcare in London costs just 20.2% of the average couple’s disposable income – the lowest on the entire list.
The UK regions with the most affordable childcare:
- London
- South East
- South West
- East
- Yorkshire and The Humber
The UK cities with the most affordable childcare:
- Edinburgh
- Basingstoke
- London
- Cheltenham
- Stockport
- Warrington
- Chelmsford
- York
- Northampton
- Brighton
You can peruse Moorepay’s full findings here.
