A soon-to-be mum of triplets facing a £40,000 a year childcare bill said working mothers are being penalised during the cost of living crisis.
Vicki Sevgili, from Andover in Hampshire, is currently 28 weeks pregnant and has been told by the government and Citizen’s Advice Bureau she is better off “giving up work and living off the government” than returning to work once her maternity leave ends.
She calculated the impending cost of childcare by researching how much it would cost for one child and then multiplying it by three.
“The lowest figure I got was £38,000, and the highest was £54,000,” she told Sky News.
This amount, she said, would swallow her entire wage: “I would be better off giving up work and living off the government.”
She added: “I was told I would get support returning to the workplace.
“But I enjoy my job and I want to keep it – not find a new one. Why can’t they support me to help me keep my job?”
She is calling on the government to do more to support working mothers, to help them keep their jobs.
Meanwhile, her mortgage has increased by £200 a month, as well as her energy bills rising and she is facing growing costs for groceries – all while needing to buy three of everything.
Ms Sevgili said that while it would make more financial sense for her husband to stay home, he is in the UK on a spouse’s visa and would receive no monetary support.
“When we first were told this, I went home and I said to my husband, let’s just move. The system just doesn’t work.
“But I know the UK is the best place for our family to be, so we will make it work one way or another.”
Source: Skynews.com