Parents of children attending a YMCA-run daycare center said price increases of up to 250% have made childcare “unaffordable”.
The One YMCA Wootton Community Nursery in Bedford said it was forced to raise prices as it faced higher bills.
Under the new conditions, like many other private providers, parents would have to pay year-round.
The charity-run daycare said it would try to help families in difficulty.
The Wootton location is one of three nurseries operated by the YMCA in the town.
Families said they now have to pay full annual fees even if they only use the nursery during school hours and not during school holidays.
Adam, whose daughter Abigail attends Wootton Kindergarten, said the “disproportionate” increase meant his monthly fees would rise from £217 to £761, an extra £6,000 a year.
“We were realistic and expected some change in pricing within the flow [economic] landscape,” he said.
Fran’s children, Henry and Annabel, also attend kindergarten in Wootton, but she said only her son would continue as the costs had become “unaffordable”.
Her mother would help take care of Annabel, she said.
“If I didn’t have my mom, I would either have to quit my job or go into debt to pay for childcare until Henry went to school in September,” she said.
The YMCA said rising business costs and staff shortages have meant it has been forced to change its rates and terms and conditions as it faces losses.
Guy Foxell, chief executive of YMCA nurseries, said it will try to work with families and help some through “other areas of our charity”.
“We are not here to see families facing a huge challenge and we will work with them as flexibly as possible,” he said.
“But we have to recognize that there is significant funding pressure here, and how we can continue to provide the kind of care we want … can only be funded through a change in business model.”
The Early Years Alliance daycare center said it had seen many members forced to raise prices and blamed the government for failing to provide more funding in recent decades.
Chief Executive Neil Leitch said the government has effectively abandoned the sector.
He said the nurseries had lost staff “in droves” because they couldn’t afford to pay them enough money.
“We have never experienced a retention and recruitment crisis like the one we are experiencing now,” said Mr. Leitch.
He said staff told him they had left the sector because they were “tired and undervalued”.
A statement from the Department for Education said: “We have each spent more than £3.5billion in each of the last three years to provide the free childcare offerings, including the 30 hours a week for working parents – and we will continue to support families with theirs childcare costs.
“We are increasing the hourly rates childcare workers will receive to reflect the costs many employers are facing, including increasing wages for their staff, and have already announced a package of up to £180m to provide better training and support for… Provide staff who work with preschool children. School children, as part of our education recovery program.”
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