‘So many working parents are screwed’: mothers on Britain’s childcare costs

Parents describe plight as pressure builds on Jeremy Hunt to provide help in the budget

Joanna Jayarajan, 41, a self-employed mother of two from London, is one of many thousands of working parents in Britain for whom the current childcare offer simply does not work.

She used to work five days a week providing extracurricular activities in schools and nurseries, until she lost her last au pair a year ago, and subsequently a chunk of her income (her wages more than offset the cost of the childcare).