Budget 2026: Childcare cost ‘is basically a second mortgage’
Monica Zanini and Stephen Ryan with their children, Sophia and Jack, in Mogeely, Co Cork. The family's afterschool and creche costs come to €920 a month, which Monica says is 'basically a second mortgage'. Picture: Jim Coughlan
Sarah Foley is one of many mothers in Ireland struggling with crippling childcare costs which, at €1,200 a month, is similar to many people’s monthly mortgage repayments.
Ms Foley, who lives in Glanmire in Cork, is mum to two children, Viggo, age 1, and Emil, 4.
She says that astronomical childcare costs have put a dent in both her and her husband’s salaries. The pair work in secondary school teaching and public relations, respectively.
Sarah said the fees to have both her children in creche amount to over €1,200 a month, despite the application of the national childcare scheme subsidy.
“For both of them to attend creche full-time and avail of meals, it’s €1,208 which works out the same as a mortgage,” she told the Irish Examiner.
“This is what comes out of my account every month. We don’t have the luxury of having family nearby.
"I don’t know what we both would do without it. We both earned our degrees and are happy to be working in jobs we enjoy.
“Our children love creche and they run in the door every morning. They have their own friends there, and it’s been really good for them socially.”
She hopes that childcare costs can eventually be further reduced for struggling families.
“If I compare it to when Emil started creche, which was back in 2022, we were paying €800.
“I don’t know how parents with more than two children cope with the fees.
"I did worry a lot when having my second, because twins run in my family. If it was the case that we did have twins, then we would have been looking at €2,000 a month, which would not have been sustainable.
“I couldn’t see myself as a stay-at-home parent. If you are going down to one income, it impacts your quality of life massively.
"If you want to travel then this requires funds. I like to visit my family abroad so travelling is very important to me."
She is calling for further measures to ease the mounting pressures attached to raising children in Ireland.
“We are in an environment where everything is increasing in price. Childcare fees are a huge part of a well-functioning economy, where we can enable people to go to work and contribute.
“If the Government reduced the pressure on parents, they would be encouraging more people to work.”
Monica Zanini, who lives in Mogeely in East Cork, said that she and her husband Stephen are paying €920 a month for childcare for their children Sophia, 5, and son Jack, 1.
“I had to come back from maternity leave earlier than I would have liked after Jack was born. This is because I needed to show the bank a payslip in order for our mortgage to go through.
“We were living with my in-laws at the time, and any gap in my payslips would have delayed us in getting a home.
“At the moment, I’m paying for my oldest to go to afterschool three times a week.
This, when combined with my son’s creche fees and with the subsidy, works out at €920 a month, which is basically a second mortgage.
She explained that the cost-of-living crisis has only aggravated their financial situation.
“Even the groceries that we purchase in Aldi and Lidl now add up to an average of between €150 and €200 a week.
"As everyone knows, it’s never just the weekly shop, and you always find yourself going into stores in between to pick up other basics.
"Petrol is a lot too, and normally works out at between €80 and €90 a week. I think everyone is feeling the prices going up.”
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