A recent survey has revealed that childcare costs are rising above the rate of inflation, with a full-time nursery place costing an average of £152 a week.
Unsurprisingly, childcare costs in London were the highest in the country, but parents in the north-west and the west midlands could expect to pay considerably less.
Average costs for childcare across England as a whole were around £140 a week, and slightly lower in Wales at around £135.
Over 40 per cent of Child Information Services reported shortages in affordable childcare, particularly for children with disabilities.
Alison Garnham, joint-chief executive of Daycare Trust, said: "With typical childcare costs rising to over a third of average earnings, parents cannot afford to bear the burden of increasing childcare costs alone.
"Despite significant government investment in early years and childcare, funding childcare needs to be further improved so that all children have access to high quality, affordable and accessible childcare."
Many parents are able to get tax credits or childcare vouchers through their employers and the charity is campaigning for the government to increase childcare entitlement provisions.
These figures could create complications for the government's recent proposals to get single parents back to work.
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