'The only thing stopping me working is childcare'

A woman in east Belfast has had to temporarily stop working because of the cost of childcare.

Mum-of-three Michelle Martin took a career break because her childcare costs had ballooned from £45 per child, per day, in 2018 to between £70 and £80 now.

She's one of about 617,000 people who are out of work, and not looking for a job in Northern Ireland.

New figures released on Tuesday morning show that Northern Ireland has the highest rate of economic inactivity in the UK.

Ms Martin said that when she sat down and worked out the numbers, her family's childcare bill would be about £2,000 a month - to include childcare and wraparound care - which is more than she was earning as a classroom assistant.

"I have trained very hard to be in the position that I'm in and I've been in the job for 14 years, it's a job I really enjoy and a job that I think I'm good at, so having to make that decision to come out wasn't easy," she told BBC News NI.

"I was quite upset about it at the time, the only thing stopping me from going back to work is the cost of childcare."

Economic inactivity is one of the biggest problems facing the Northern Ireland economy.

It refers to the number of people who are not in work nor looking for a job and there are many reasons why people have to leave the workforce.

Though the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland fell to a record low of 1.6% between October to December, figures show the number of people not in work or looking for a job has gone up to 26.6% - the highest of the UK regions.

An estimated 617,000 are economically inactive - up 2,000 from the last quarter and 20,000 from the same time last year. That includes carers, students and people who are sick.

The figures also show the number of workers on company payrolls grew by 1% in the last year to 806,700 in January.

The typical monthly pay packet in Northern Ireland rose by £149 per month to £2,290 in January, but NI is still the lowest earning UK region.

Ms Martin said the 15% subsidy works out about £400 a month, but as their childcare bill is about £2,000 per month, she described it as "a bit of a drop in the ocean".

"Unfortunately the pay isn't great from the education board for special needs classroom assistants, so having the increased childcare costs is having a real knock on effect," she added.

"I would love to go back to work. I think even just for my mental health and being out of the house and having connections within work and the future training you have within work.

"It's something I want to do, I've done my degree in it. It was always my lifelong goal to be in this position so the fact that I have had to come out is a bitter pill to swallow.

Rebecca Harper, co-founder of Melted Parents campaign group, says they are being inundated with messages from parents in a similar position to Michelle.

"We know there's a skills shortage in Northern Ireland that is set to get worse and yet we are contacted every single day by incredibly skilled, mostly women, like doctors and nurses who are leaving the workforce due to childcare costs," she said.

"Not only can you not afford to go to work, but you also cannot afford to live off one salary so families are at absolute crisis point because of the childcare costs in Northern Ireland."

She said many childcare providers were putting up prices now to cover the increases in National Insurance contributions and minimum wage in April.

"It's very easy for people to say 'you shouldn't have had kids if you can't afford them', but childcare fees have increased astronomically in the last few years in a way that no-one could have foreseen.

"But also, we need people to be having children because we need future taxpayers and a future workforce."