Work doesn’t pay for parent train commuters

Parents commuting to work on the train are paying up 35 per cent of their wages on childcare and fares according to the Campaign for Better Transport.

Alexandra Woodsworth, Campaign for Better Transport’s public transport campaigner, says: “We now have both the highest rail fares in Europe and the highest childcare costs. With fares set to rise 28 per cent over the next four years, these combined costs will become increasingly unbearable. For many families it means that work simply doesn’t pay – it doesn’t make financial sense to stay in work or return after maternity leave.”