Breaking News English

Families in the U.K. [now / know] pay more on childcare than on their mortgage. The [annually / annual] costs of raising children are now [outstripping / outsourcing] yearly housing loan repayments. This is according [to / by] a survey conducted by Britain's Family and Childcare Trust. The organization says that in some [partners / parts] of the country, nursery fees have [risen / arisen] by 13 per cent in the past year. The cost for babysitters and child-minders has risen [for / by] an average of four per cent. The report's author Jill Rutter told the Nursery World website that her [find / findings] showed that childcare in the U.K. is becoming [less / more] and less affordable for families. She also said an [insufficient / insufficiency] number of places in nurseries shows the U.K.'s system isn't working.

The report could well make would-be parents [think / thinking] twice about starting a family, or about the number of children they [get / have] . A family of four with one child [attendance / attending] a nursery and another in an after-school club spends [an / on] average of $12,571 a year. This compares to the average yearly housing [loan / loaned] payments of $12,000. Families are now spending a quarter of their income on childcare. This does not include the costs of [feeds / feeding] , clothing and [entertaining / entertainment] children. There are also the costs of toys, books and [electronic / electrically] gadgets on top [for / of] that. The chief executive of the Trust warned that when many parents have to spend more than a quarter of their income on childcare, it's clear that the system "isn't fit for [purpose / reason] ".