The cost of childcare is rising at five times the rate of inflation, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show, writes Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent
Average childcare costs across the country were just over €120 a week in the first quarter of 2005, an increase of 23 per cent over two years.
CSO officials estimate that the cost has increased by at least a further 10 per cent since figures were compiled.
Childcare costs varied considerable across the State. The lowest were in the Border region, where weekly costs were just under €100 per week. The highest costs were in Dublin, where costs were just over €145 a week.
Costs were higher for families who required more than 40 hours of paid childcare a week, where the average cost was €184.
The figures were contained in the CSO's quarterly national household survey, the results of which were gathered in late 2004 and early 2005.
They prompted criticism from Fine Gael and Labour, who said the €1,000-a-year childcare supplement would do little to ease the burden on many young families.
However, the Government said it was spending record levels on making childcare more affordable through the childcare supplement and higher child benefit payments.
Childcare groups in the Dublin area yesterday said average costs recorded in the CSO figures appeared to be low. For example, childcare for babies costs up to €250 a week in the capital.
The Dublin City Childcare Committee, which helps co-ordinate childcare services, said rising costs appeared to be driven by factors such as insurance, electricity, rent and renovations.
The figures show that despite the growing use of childcare, parents were still the main carers for children during the normal working day for pre-school children (60 per cent) and for school-going children (78 per cent).
Around 40 per cent of families with pre-school children relied on paid childcare, a slight increase from 2002 when 38 per cent of families did so.
Lone parents relied to a lesser extent on paid childcare (31 per cent).
Figures also showed regional differences in different forms of childcare.
Creches or Montessori schools were the most popular form of childcare for pre-school children in Dublin (15 per cent) and the mid-east (12 per cent). In the Border, midlands and southeast unpaid relatives were the main form of non-parental childcare. Paid carers, on the other hand, were the main form of childcare for pre-school children in the west, mid-west and southwest.
For school-going children, the most favoured non-parental childcare type was unpaid relatives, except in the west where paid carers (8 per cent) were more popular.
In general, unpaid relatives were an important source of childcare for primary school-going children.
A detailed breakdown of the cost of childcare showed that the average weekly cost of childcare for families with pre-school children was €131, while the rate for families with primary school-going children only was €87.
The average cost of paid childcare per child per hour for pre-school children and primary school-going children was €4.15 and €5.68 respectively.