Childcare costs top election agenda for new mums

Sara Pepper said nursery fees were "like an extra mortgage"

The mother of baby twins who is on maternity leave has expressed her fears over the cost of childcare ahead of the general election.

Sara Pepper said childcare, the cost of living and funding for the arts would influence her decision when she heads to the polls on 4 July.

The 34-year-old, from Leicestershire, works as a freelance project manager, and said she faced an uncertain future after her maternity leave.

She said her partner had also been made redundant in his role as a music lecturer due to funding cuts.

At an exercise class in Leicester Forest East for mums with toddlers and babies, Ms Pepper, from Desford, compared childcare costs to “an extra mortgage”.

She, told the BBC: “I’m self-employed so I haven’t officially got a job to go back to, although I’ve worked for a company for a number of years, but a freelance position isn’t safe.

“I am a little bit worried about the role I end up doing after my maternity leave, and my partner is being made redundant in a couple of months.

“Childcare costs is a huge thing. I hope [the incoming government] keep the funded hours, or if they could better it then even better.

“I’ve enquired at our local nursery to send our twins two days a week, and I think it would be £600 a month. It’s crazy.”

After renewing their mortgage last year, Ms Pepper said her family's payments had increased by 40%, and also raised concerns about the cost of fuel and food.

Despite being undecided on who to vote for next month, she said she hoped the incoming government would invest more money in the arts and creative industries.

Mum Bethan Mitchell said nursery staff needed to be paid more

“The funding for arts is not where it should be,” Ms Pepper added. “That means I’m on maternity and he’s about to be made redundant, so in a cost-of-living crisis that’s not great.

“I think the jobs market is tough. I’m self-employed and I know from friends and family that the freelance sector is tough right now and it’s down to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Businesses don’t want to spend the money on that kind of support if they can just scrape through.”

Mum Jemma Slinger called on the next government to invest more in the NHS

Other mums at the baby toddler group, including Bethan Mitchell, raised concerns about the cost of childcare and nursery fees when their maternity leave ends.

The 32-year-old, from Kirby Muxloe, works as a mechanical engineer at a research company.

She said: “When thinking about going back to work I think it’s really expensive for everyone in terms of putting kids into nursery and I don’t think nursery staff get paid enough either.”

Meanwhile Jemma Slinger, 31, from Leicester, works in recruitment and plans to go back to work in September.

Her husband is in the military and Jemma would like to see the government look into giving a longer period of paternity leave to people like him.

But she said her number one issue was the cost of living.

“Having a little one isn’t cheap,” said Mrs Slinger. “Mortgage rates aren’t cheap either.

“Our mortgage is to be renewed next April and with [our baby] going into childcare and me going back to work it’s all happening at once.”

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