Childcare in Islington is more expensive than the average across London, new figures show.
By Adam Care, Data Reporter
Childcare in Islington is more expensive than the average across London, new figures show.
A children’s charity said Government support with childcare makes a huge difference to working families, but warned there are many still missing out, putting some children at a severe disadvantage.
Data from the Department for Education’s Childcare and early years provider survey reveals the average hourly cost of childcare across England.
On average in Islington, parents paid £9.39 an hour for a two-year-old in 2025.
This was more than the £8.26 a year earlier, and more than the £8.92 average charged across London.
Nationally, an hour of childcare for a two-year-old cost £7.09 in 2025, up from £6.56 last year.
The most expensive place for a two-year-old was Kensington and Chelsea, where it cost £12.88 an hour.
Darlington was the most affordable in the country, at £5.17 an hour.
Lydia Hodges, head of Coram Family and Childcare, said the charity has been tracking the cost of childcare for nearly 25 years.
“We know that a family’s bill can vary greatly, not just depending on where they live but on the type of setting their child attends, what that setting offers, or how each provider sets their fees,” she said.
“The expansion of Government-funded early education entitlements has been a welcome help for many working parents, but for those who are not eligible for the entitlements – because they are not in work, do not earn enough or do not meet other criteria – meeting these higher-than-average costs will be much more difficult.
“They may have less choice of places for their child, or be left calculating whether going to work is really affordable.”
She said expanding the funded hours to all children, regardless of their parents’ income “would be fairer for children, and simpler for parents”.
The data also shows childcare in Islington costs an average of £8.69 per hour for a three or four-year-old, up from £7.26 a year earlier.
In London the average cost was £8.60, while it was £6.78 across England as a whole.
Dr Sara Reis, interim director at the Women’s Budget Group, said single parents are often hit hardest by the current childcare funding situation.
“A key issue with the current childcare offer that often gets missed is that funded hours are only available to parents already in work,” she said.
“That shuts out and effectively penalises parents who are studying, training or retraining to improve their prospects, and creates a damaging catch-22 – particularly for single mums.
“For single parents, most of whom are women, balancing parenting and paid work is much harder than for dual parent households.”
“Affordable, accessible childcare is one of the most powerful tools we have to tackle child poverty, close the gender pay gap and expand women’s choices.
“We hope the upcoming childcare review will be bold and extend the offer to all parents,” she added.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Since September, over half a million families have benefited from the rollout of funded childcare, helping to save parents up to £7,500 and give children growing up in our country the best start in life.
“We have committed a record investment of £9.5 billion into early years next year to continue covering the costs of 30 hours childcare a week for eligible working parents, wherever they are in the country.
“Lower income families can also get funded childcare for their two-year-olds, and our transformative child poverty strategy goes even further – scrapping the two-child limit and expanding childcare support for parents on Universal Credit to break down barriers for all children, regardless of background.”
