The typical weekly childcare bill in Northern Ireland is the highest in the UK, trade unionists have said. At 15 hours, the median number of hours in Northern Ireland is 50% higher than any other UK region. The report added: “This is in addition to the fact that Northern Ireland has the highest proportion of households paying for childcare of any region. Women with dependent children were overrepresented in part-time employment, compared with men with or without dependent children and women with no dependent children, the report said. This compared with almost one in two women with dependent children who were employed on a part-time basis.

Source: Irish Examiner June 10, 2019 18:11 UTC