Women are putting off starting a family for two-and-a-half years due to the expense – with the cost of childcare for working mothers a key reason for the delay

• A survey found 60% of women in their thirties and forties delaying pregnancy 
• The survey found the typical mother delays having kids for two-and-a-half years
• Childcare costs were a key reason for the delay, according to the LinkedIn survey

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A typical mother now delays having babies for two-and-a-half years because of the forbidding costs of caring for a child, a survey has found.

Six out of ten women in their thirties and forties put off having a family because of the expense – and the average time they waited was 30 months.

The findings are contained in a poll of 4,000 people carried out by the job networking site LinkedIn.

A LinkedIn survey found that 60% of women in their thirties and forties are delaying pregnancy (stock photo)

It comes after the Office for National Statistics said women were putting off motherhood because of ‘increased female participation in higher education and the labour force, the increasing importance of a career, the rising costs of childbearing, labour market uncertainty and housing factors’.

• Working parents ‘spend £6,000 a year on childcare’ Working parents will have to pay an average of £135 per week…

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The LinkedIn survey said the cost of childcare for working mothers was a key reason for the delay. But it also found that men were reluctant to devote their time to looking after children.

Parents said they spent between a quarter and a half of their income on childcare.

Childcare costs are one of the key contributing factors for women delaying having children (stock photo)

Four out of five families said they could not afford both children and a comfortable lifestyle as they would need a household income of £55,000. In London the figure was put at £73,000.

Darain Faraz of LinkedIn said: ‘Juggling work with childcare can be really difficult for parents, especially where the cost of childcare is so expensive.’

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