As the summer holidays end, a new survey reveals gaps in childcare for parents of disabled children, impacting work for 90 percent of parents.

Working Families survey of parents of disabled children this summer reveals the high costs and difficulties in finding suitable childcare which have a serious knock-on effect on parents’ work. Ninety percent of parents responding said that they had to change their hours, take unpaid leave, request flexible working or make other changes to meet the need for care for their disabled child – four percent of parents reported that they had left their job due to childcare needs over the summer.

The survey of 182 parents revealed: A third of parents of disabled children were not working, although almost 80 percent of these would like to be in paid work. 79 percent said childcare was a factor stopping them working Of the two thirds in work: Half of those in work responding said that their childcare cost extra because their child was disabled with 62 percent of these paying an extra £5 or more an hour. Over 80 percent responding said their summer care arrangements were a compromise with the vast majority relying on friends and family to fill the gaps in care.

Only ten percent of families said that holiday childcare had no impact on their working lives. 41 percent had changed hours, 31 percent took unpaid leave, 28 percent made a flexible working request and 4 percent left their jobs because of care difficulties (some parents reported more than one change was needed). The one thing that would make the most difference with summer holiday childcare was affordability, 30 percent of parents raised this as the over-riding concern. (This compares withten percent raising it as the main concern in our 2009 survey). Parents told us: “It’s a nightmare, not understood by others”; “For children with very complex needs there is no suitable care available”; “I can’t drop three children in different places at the same time”; “childcare prices cripple my family”.

Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of Working Families commented: “Our survey reveals the difficulties parents of disabled children face in juggling work and summer holiday childcare. Parents are compromising, adapting their working hours, and paying over the odds for expensive childcare. It shouldn’t be this way – all parents should be able to find appropriate, accessible, affordable childcare – but many parents are paying an extra penalty for the cost of caring for a disabled child. What is most disappointing is that so little has changed since our last survey four years ago.

“Our findings show gaps in childcare provision which service providers should heed. Seventy percent of parents not working reported that the available childcare is not specialist enough for the needs of disabled children, and two thirds of parents who sought help from their Family Information Services found they were not able to help. As the Government consults on making childcare more affordable for parents, it must consider the plight of parents of disabled children. We don’t think parents should be charged more, simply because their child is disabled – but they clearly are – and these extra costs are not recognised in tax credit (which pays a maximum of 70 percent of £175 for one child or £300 for two or more children) or voucher support for parents. One parent told us she could only find two weeks of care for her son this summer at £350 per week.

“There are clear messages here for employers too, with a fifth of parents reporting concerns about the need for employers to be more flexible about leave taking. Until we solve the problems of childcare then allowing parents to take leave, or change their working hours to cope with the summer holidays is vital to keep parents in work and out of poverty.”