The cost of childcare is a ‘significant barrier' to employment for women in Ireland, new research has shown.

According to the findings from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), mothers who face higher childcare costs work fewer hours. However, greater government support in this area would increase maternal employment.

The researchers used data from the ongoing Growing Up in Ireland study, which has been monitoring the development of thousands of children since 2007. They used the data to track the employment of mothers across the first five years of their child's life.

They found that, when all else was equal, mothers with higher childcare costs when their children were aged three years, tended to work fewer hours by the time their child had reached five years of age.

The study noted that the working arrangements for mothers with young children can be complex, and often do not simply come down to the choice between working full time or staying at home. For example, between the ages of three and five years, 45% of mothers changed their employment hours.

The research found that 15% of families did not pay for the care their child received and in almost all cases, this care was provided by a relative. Those who did pay paid for an average of 24 hours of childcare per week. The average costs of this depended on the type of childcare:

-For a childminder in the family home - €6.13 in 2017 prices
-For a childminder outside the home - €4.76 in 2017 prices
-For centre-based care - €4.82 in 2017 prices

Costs were higher in Dublin, east Leinster and other urban areas. Parents spent an average of 12% of their disposable income on childcare for their three-year-old. However, the research found that the financial burden was greatest for lone parents, who spent an average of 16% of their disposable income on childcare, and low-income families, who spent 20%.

These costs were based on just one child, so the financial burden is even more severe for families with more than one child in childcare, the researchers noted.

They said that greater government support in this area would increase maternal employment, and targeted supports are particularly needed for low-income families.

"The high costs of childcare has been widely recognised as a significant barrier to female labour market participation in Ireland. This report not only provides a supporting evidence on this, but also points out that this barrier is even more profound for lone parents and low income families," commented Ela Hogan, monitoring analysis and outcome unit lead at Pobal, which funded the research.