'We are drowning in debt': Pregnant women forced to consider abortion because of soaring childcare costs

Women say they are being forced to consider having an abortion due to the soaring cost of childcare.

Heartbreaking statistics released by the charity Pregnant then Screwed have revealed nearly one in five women have terminated their pregnancy due to the cost of childcare, with six in ten women saying it influenced their decision.

It comes as the average cost of putting a child in nursery part-time in 2022 rose to over £7,000, up by 2.5 per cent for children under the age of two from last year, according to Coram Family and Childcare.

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One woman, who asked not be named, said she had to make the painful decision to have an abortion as she couldn't afford the cost of childcare alongside her other young child.

"I have found it heartbreaking that I have had to have an abortion primarily because we could not afford the cost of childcare. If I had continued my pregnancy of a much wanted child I would have had to quit my job to care for them," she said.

"This would have meant we had to sell our home as one salary would not cover the bills. This would have been detrimental to my one child. The system is a shambles and it is so upsetting.

"It is horrendous that myself and my husband are both professionals yet we cannot afford a second child due to the first years of their life requiring childcare."

In a survey, Pregnant then Screwed spoke to 1,630 women who have had an abortion in the last five years, with 60 per cent saying that the cost of childcare influenced their decision. Around 17 per cent of women said that childcare costs were the main reason they chose to terminate their pregnancy.

The picture was bleaker for Black women, with 76 per