Affordable childcare vital for workforce participation, MLAs told

The majority of workers consider affordable childcare to be "essential," assembly members (MLAs) have been told.

That is according to Stuart Anderson from the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

He was giving evidence on childcare to MLAs on the Executive's proposed childcare strategy.

The Northern Ireland Executive plans to subsidise more than half of all childcare costs for working families by April 2032, but it will cost around £500m for Stormont to deliver the strategy.

According to the strategy, the average cost of full-time childcare is £57 per day, per child, or just under £15,000 per year before any deductions or subsidies.

The Northern Ireland Chamber for Commerce is a business network with a membership of 1,200 businesses representing more than 100,000 employees.

According to Anderson, after its members were surveyed, almost three-quarters said affordable childcare was essential to having a good job.

However Anderson said there was a need for more candour around "what is possible and what actually can be delivered by way of the strategy".

Lorna Muldoon from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which has around 6,000 business-owning members, told MLAs that businesses depended on "affordable, accessible childcare for their employees to participate fully in the workforce".

"The strength of our childcare system directly shapes the strength of our economy," she said.

She added that when childcare was unaffordable there was reduced productivity and employers found it harder to recruit and retain employees.

"These pressures fall disproportionately on women, but the economic impact is felt across the whole labour market," Muldoon said.

She said that the executive's draft childcare strategy was a "welcome and long overdue move.".

But that it also brought "significant challenges".

"Providers cannot raise wages or expand staffing levels without either the funding to do so or by passing the increased costs on to hard-pressed users," she said.

The draft strategy highlighted the need for better pay and training for staff working in childcare.

It also aims to ensure all childcare staff are paid at least the real living wage - a voluntary pay rate set by the Living Wage Foundation.

From April 2026, the National Living Wage will rise to £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over.

Diane Koplewsky from the Sleepy Hollow Group said she had worked in childcare for 25 years.

The group now runs four day nurseries and 26 out-of-school clubs and employs around 200 people.

Her son Nikolai also now works in the group.

He told MLAs that the recruitment of childcare staff was a "massive" issue across the sector, and that some childcare staff had faced bills of up to £80 to get GPs to provide them with a medical note showing they were fit to work.

"Nurseries are closing rooms because they can't afford to staff them," Diane added.