London has been named the UK’s most affordable region for childcare despite having the highest nursery fees in the country.
Using pricing data from government sources and figures from the Office for National Statistics, payroll company Moorepay calculated the average hourly cost of childcare and compared it to the average hourly disposable income in 49 of the UK’s largest cities.
Surprisingly, they found London, where nursery fees average £8.98 per hour, offered the most affordable childcare as a region when compared to the average hourly disposable income per couple, which stands at £41.29.
The average hour of childcare in the capital costs just 20.2 per cent of the average couple’s disposable income, securing its position as the most affordable region for childcare in the country. This is despite the capital’s fees being the highest in the UK.
The paradox, explained
The finding turns on the difference between price and affordability. Price is what a nursery charges; affordability is what that charge represents as a share of what households have to spend. London’s fees are the highest in absolute terms, but average couple incomes in the capital are higher still, so the fee eats a smaller share of disposable income than elsewhere.
That measure comes with a caveat worth stating plainly: it compares fees with the average couple’s disposable income. It does not describe the position of single parents, lower-income households, or families paying for more than one child, for whom the same £8.98 hourly fee will weigh far more heavily.
The research placed Edinburgh and Basingstoke in the first and second spots respectively for the most affordable city-based childcare. Following London, the South East and South West were ranked as the second and third most affordable regions for childcare. The East of England and Yorkshire and The Humber completed the top five.
The cities with the most affordable childcare are Edinburgh, Basingstoke, London, Cheltenham, Stockport, Warrington, Chelmsford, York, Northampton, and Brighton.
For London parents weighing up nursery costs, the capital’s top ranking is therefore less a promise of cheap childcare than a reminder that the bill looks very different depending on household income — a point that also matters for settings such as the Crouch End nursery praised by Ofsted for helping every child find their voice.
