A quarter of mothers with children under the age of five have taken on extra work to cover the increased cost of childcare, a survey by Indeed Flex has found.
A further quarter indicated they have taken up temporary work, and one in five claimed that temping is the only employment they can fit around their childcare responsibilities.
The platform for finding temporary work surveyed 2,000 women and found that more than three quarters of mothers with children aged under five (77%) have seen childcare costs rise over the past 12 months.
The survey also showed that nearly a third (31%) of mums with young kids now spend more than 40% of their salary on professional childcare.
This comes as the government is set to start offering 15 hours of free childcare per week to parents with children under the age of five from 1 April 2024.
By September 2025 this support is predicted to increase to 30 hours of childcare per week for all parents with children under the age of five.
Around a third (32%) of women who took part in the survey agreed that the government support is not being implemented quickly enough. More than a quarter (29%) said that professional childcare would still be too expensive, even with the government support.
Clara Wilcox, return to work and career coach for parents, commented that while employers can help support working mothers, policy needs to change.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “Whilst there is a lot employers can do for flexible working, agile working and properly paying their staff, this conversation needs to be wider.
