A QUARTER of working mums have been plunged into debt due to the crippling cost of childcare, a recent report has revealed.

The survey of 4,000 working parents found that two-thirds say they can't afford not to work, but struggle to pay for childcare.

Mums claim they are fighting a desperate battle to keep financially afloat as childcare costs are rocketing, but their salaries are not.

The report, published jointly by two charities – the Daycare Trust and Save the Children – comes at a time when childcare costs have never been higher.

The average cost of full-time childcare is £385 a month, but this rises to £729 for children under two.

Part-time care comes in at £193 a month, or £364 for the under-twos.

For 41per cent of families, the report said the cost of childcare is ‘on a par’ with the biggest other regular bill they face – their mortgage or rent.

And despite many parents cutting back their spending, one in four have got into debt because of childcare costs.

Mum-of-two Verity Ryan, 37, of Darwen, a full-time shop assistant at Heaven Sent, on Blackburn Market, said: “I have ended up below the breadline by going out to work over the years and paying for childcare.

"The tax credits you receive aren’t enough. My children, who are 11 and 16 now, went to after-school club and it cost me £90-a-week just for that. It’s so expensive.

“Now I try to get my friends and family to help out for the time they’re not at school and I’m at work, otherwise I end up worse off. It’s terrible because full-time mums get grief because they don’t work, and then the ones who do end up in debt to pay for childcare.

“Lots of my friends never went back to work after maternity leave because they couldn’t afford to pay someone to look after their children and finding jobs to fit around your children is nearly impossible so they gave up their careers.”

Anand Shukla, chief executive of the Daycare Trust, said: “We hear from parents every day who are being forced to make difficult decisions about their career and family life as a result of Britain’s high childcare costs. Parents are being forced out of work.”

The study says the number of women opting to look after their children, instead of doing paid employment, has risen by 32,000 since last summer.

Full-time mum Natalie Blackburn, 26, who lives near Turton, stays at home to look after her two-year-old daughter to avoid the high price of childcare. She said: “I couldn’t afford the nursery costs. I can’t find one that leaves me with enough money left over. It’s ridiculous how expensive it’s getting.”

Kirstie Howson, 18, is starting at Blackburn University later this month, where her five-month-old daughter will receive free child care, but she worries about the future. “I want to go to uni to get a good job, but I don’t know how I’ll pay for childcare when I start working. I wouldn’t be able to go to uni if I couldn’t get help with paying for childcare. It’s a worry.”

A separate report found more than half of working mums are considering taking a second job.

Jennifer Simpson, 34, a part-time newsagent in Blackburn, said she’d have to get a second job to fund child care if it wasn’t for her parents’ help.

She said: “My family have always looked after my seven-year-old son so I can work, but if they couldn’t do that, I’d have to get another part-time job.”

Mum-of-five Asma Sidat, 31, of Blackburn, added: “I’ve only just started working again now my youngest is at school. I have to work part-time so I can collect them from school. I can’t afford to work full-time because of the cost of childcare. It is limiting women’s working lives.”