The majority of nurseries in Wales – 88 per cent - expect to make a loss or break even, a survey by the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) Cymru has revealed.
With staffing costs increasing in the average nursery by 15 per cent from April, only 11.5 per cent of nurseries expect to make any form of surplus in the coming year the survey found, with a quarter of nurseries expecting to make a loss.
Almost all (90 per cent) of respondents said this was because their funding rate for the Childcare Offer for Wales is not enough to cover their delivery costs. This is up from 2021, when 69 per cent said the funding rate was not enough.
The 30 hours of the Childcare Offer for Wales is made up of a minimum of 10 hours of early education a week, and a maximum of 20 hours a week of childcare. The shortfall per child on just 20 hours of the Childcare Offer is £2,500 per year, the NDNA said.
