‘I’m basically working for free – everything I earn goes on childcare’

For Helen Ince, the cost of childcare is a gendered issue that perpetuates inequality – and it’s one that she is all too familiar with.

“I’m basically working for free. Everything I earn goes on childcare,” the Bedminster resident tells Bristol24/7.

Helen had her daughter, Emilia, in April 2020 – just after the entire country had been plunged into lockdown due to the pandemic.

She went on to make the decision not to return to her full-time job at Bristol University for a variety of reasons, but one of the key factors that has prevented her from being able to work full-time since is the cost of childcare.

Helen, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis just a month before she found out she was pregnant, now works part time for Bristol Women’s Voice and coordinates the organisation’s Disabled Women Take Action programme.

While her job enables her to work for a cause she believes in and further her skills, it is a constant juggling act for her and her husband to afford to get by and a return to full-time work or training is currently out of the question for her.

Helen Ince (pictured with daughter, Emilia) has spoken out to highlight the cost of childcare crisis – photo: Helen Ince

“The biggest thing holding me back is the crazy cost of childcare,” says Helen.

“I realised I would have to work part-time, which meant I could not really further my career. I’ve not been able to pursue my goals and wouldn’t be able to go to university or back into training because I have neither the time or money to invest in me.

“It’s definitely a gendered issue because it’s almost always women who take the main responsibility for childcare.”

The “broken” early years childcare system in the UK affects hundreds of thousands of families in Bristol alone.

Compounded by the cost of living crisis, it is a situation that is fast coming to a head with the launch of a major campaign to shed light on the issue and lobby for systemic reform.

Those calling for change argue that beyond the moral impetus for change, there is a strong economic incentive, with the potential to create up to 1.5 million jobs in the UK if two per cent of GDP was invested in care industries, according to analysis by the Women’s Budget Group.

Helen says that the lack of availability of childcare places is also part of the issue in Bristol.

“Getting a place in Bristol at the moment is quite an achievement so you forget to take into account the costs,” she says.

“I know there are so many people who can’t get a place with a childminder or nursery and even when they do, they simply can’t afford it.”

Like so many, Helen and her husband, a university lecturer, have no family who live nearby for support so they are forced to make difficult decisions.

Helen adds: “Money for us has always been very tight – you have to put your child’s name down on a waiting list very early on so that’s what we did. We didn’t have time to consider the cost and it’s only when we’ve started having to pay the bills for her childcare that it’s really caught up with us.

“It’s taking each day as it comes and not being able to plan for the future because our focus is very much on keeping ourselves afloat.”

A March of the Mummies protest is taking place on October 29 to highlight the cost of childcare crisis. Details are available via: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/march-of-the-mummies-2022-bristol-tickets-393019490877

In the run up to the march, Bristol24/7 will be running a series of articles looking at how the cost of childcare crisis is impacting different families in the city.

Main photo: Helen Ince 

Read more:

• Bristol campaign to highlight cost of childcare crisis
• Food bank facing empty shelves amid unprecedented demand 
• How women bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis

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