High childcare costs forcing women in their 30s to postpone having kids
The high cost of childcare is causing women in their thirties to put off having children, according to a poll.
The new Behaviour and Attitudes poll, carried out on behalf of Today FM and the Irish Independent, shows that a quarter of women aged between 20 and 49 are postponing having children for financial reasons.
However this number rises for those in their 30s to 32%.
Families in Dublin are paying the most for childcare, at just under €595 per month, while outside the capital the monthly average is just short of €380.
Director of the National Women's Council of Ireland Orla O'Connor says more needs to be done to help women.
She said: "We need affordable and accessible child care for all parents and we also need far better leave policies so that parents, both fathers and mothers, can balance family and work life to a far better degree.
"And also so that fathers can take more responsibilities with regard to care."
