Cost of childcare in London - your thoughts?

[LewishamLocalEd]

Heidi Alexander, Labour MP for Lewisham East has a debate in parliament next week on the cost of childcare in London.

She would be interested in hearing our views!

So, this is a chance to get your voice heard in parliament...

What do you think about the costs of childcare?
Wrap around care?
The impact on women's careers?

As a new mother this issue is currently dominating my thoughts at the moment. I am currently on maternity leave researching my options for childcare. The problem is that nurseries are extremely expensive, ranging in price from around £1000/1400 for a local place to £1800 for a place near my work per month for a full time place. As someone on an average income (I take home around £1800 after tax monthly), it means that more than half of it will be taken up by childcare. When that is added to the cost of living, and in particular rent, it makes life impossible. My husband and I earn too much to be eligible for tax credits or housing benefit. Neither of us have any family here to help out with childcare.
Frankly, it's hard enough taking that decision to leave your child at a young age but to do so when it mmeans that most of what you earn will be taken up with paying for the privilege it really feels not worth it. I have so many friends who have given up their jobs precisely for this reason. I even know someone who has decided to stay at work but is actually paying more for childcare than her job pays due to the fact that she has two small children.
If the government wants both parents to work then instead of giving tax credits to the lowest paid I believe that they should subsidise the costs of nursery places for working parents by paying the nurseries directly. The costs of living in London must be taken into account when considering this situation.

Just a further note that my workplace is not as flexible as it could be. There are aspects of my job that could just as easily done at home but flexible working is not an option for me. I work in education for a private company. It is a role that used to be run by a university but has been privatized in recent years, resulting in lower wages and less flexibility.