BRITAIN’S childcare system is “not fit for purpose,” the TUC said today, after new research found the soaring average annual cost of a full-time nursery place for a child under two is close to £15,000. 

Parents are having to fork out a whopping £14,836 a year — a 5.9 per cent rise in costs over the last 12 months — as the availability of places has also dropped, charity Coram warned.

The government claimed it has spend £20 billion since 2018 to “help families with childcare costs,” but Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson accused ministers of failing Britons and pledged to prioritise system reform if the party is elected.