The cost of childcare increased by twice as much as the average pay rise last year, according to research from the Daycare Trust.
An average nursery place costs £5,028 a year for a child under two in England, a 4.8 per cent increase during 2010, more than twice the 2.1 per cent rate of wage growth.
Apparently, parents in Britain spend an average of one third of their net income on child care, more than in any other industrialised country.