Lily Allen criticises childcare system that leaves single mums ‘stuck’
Lily Allen has reflected on the challenges faced by single mothers who juggle their careers with the cost of childcare.
Speaking on her BBC podcast Miss Me? the singer weighed in on the challenges she faced raising her two daughters, before she met her husband, Stranger Things actor David Harbour, in 2019.
Allen, who co-hosts the podcast with presenter and long-time friend Miquita Oliver, said she “couldn’t work because the money that I was making from work wasn’t enough to cover the childcare that I needed”.
“I felt snookered like I was at a stalemate – stuck at where I was, which was basically at home, not being able to tour, or do anything.”
Allen said she hopes childcare costs will be lowered so “women can get back to work and climb that ladder of power”.
Oliver, who doesn’t have children, remarked that she often “worries” about how she would cope with the financial strain of childcare if she had a child.
“It is shocking in this country, I think it’s the most expensive childcare in Europe,” she added.
In the UK, one in four parents say the cost of their childcare is now more than 75 per cent of their take-home pay, according to a survey of 24,000 parents by the charity Pregnant then Screwed. Meanwhile, one in 10 break even or end up with a loss.
According to the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), the average cost of sending a child under the age of two to nursery is £263 per week for full-time care (50 hours) and £138 per week for part-time care (25 hours).
The “Smile” singer admitted that she is now reliant on nannies to help while she’s on a strict performance schedule – like last year, when she played the principal character in The Pillowman by In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh, in London’s West End.
Allen has two daughters with her ex-husband Sam Cooper: Ethel Mary, born in 2011, and Marnie Rose, born in 2013.
“If I’m touring, or if I’m doing a play, I’ll basically need 24 hour cover because I’ll be working late until the night and not starting work until the mid-afternoon,” said Allen, as she revealed she had two different nannies, each doing 12 hour shifts, to cover her while she was touring.
Oliver enquired: “What the hell does that look like financially?” to which Allen replied: “Quite a lot! It’s a nightmare.”
In March, Allen shared her frank feelings on balancing motherhood with her career, and admitted: “My children ruined my career”.
“I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, they totally ruined it,” she told the Radio Times podcast.
Allen continued her point by sharing her frustration with the idea that it is possible to excel in both a career and parenthood in equal measure: “I get really annoyed when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t.”
