A new report released today has revealed parents are resorting to desperate measures to secure childcare over summer holidays, with nearly one in eight resorting to leaving their younger children with older siblings. One in six parents admit faking sickness to get time off work in order to cope, while over one in ten (12%) parents have had to take their child into work over the last 12 months because of the childcare struggle.

The report shows one in six parents claim their bosses are unsympathetic to their annual leave requests over summer and as a result rely on other ways of coping. A quarter of parents rely on friends and over a third (36%) rely on their children’s grandparents for childcare support. The impact of this on family life is evident with 37% of parents admitting they are disappointed that they will not be able to spend as much time as would like with their children.

Worryingly, the consequence is that parents will put themselves into debt to make it through the next few weeks, with a quarter of parentis admitting they will have difficulty paying household bills because summer is such an expensive time. One in five (22%) say they will rely on their overdrafts to survive and a fifth (20%) will turn to credit cards. Despite this, £6.4 billion of child tax credits and working tax credits go unclaimed every year.