Bad news, Boris – childcare has cost me £500,000 (and counting)

Has Boris Johnson only just discovered the ruinous cost of childcare in this country? He has, allegedly, been seeking a rich donor to pay for a nanny for his one-year-old son Wilfred. What’s surprising is not that the Prime Minister has apparently told friends he needs £300,000 a year to keep on top of his outgoings (life gets expensive when you have multiple dependents and properties), but that he has only now realised the cost of finding someone to look after his son. And how even a dual-income couple will struggle. Especially in London.

I should know: I have been paying for full-time childcare for almost 14 years. For the most part, I have been in denial about the crippling cost. I had never totted up how much I have spent over the years, knowing that the grand total would be far too depressing. After all, I can’t do my job without childcare so I’ve just had to suck it up.