52% of parents don't have enough annual leave for childcare, while 33% expect to work from a playground this summer

More than half of parents say they don't have enough annual leave to cover the summer holidays, as families find creative ways to manage childcare.

Cute baby boy sitting with father working from home

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Published: August 17, 2026 at 12:57 PM

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More than half of parents say their biggest challenge during the summer holidays is simply not having enough annual leave to cover the six-week break, new research suggests.

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A survey by flexible childcare platform Bubble found 55% of parents were relying on annual leave for childcare, while 52% said having too little annual leave was their biggest summer holiday headache.

And for some parents, working from home doesn't necessarily mean working from home. More than three in 10 (33%) said they expected to work from a playground this summer, while a quarter planned to work from soft play centres and 13% from the beach.

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The findings come as other research highlights the rising cost of formal holiday childcare, with families increasingly piecing together annual leave, flexible working, grandparents and paid-for childcare to get through the school holidays.

Parents are using childcare to get through the working day

Bubble's booking data shows just how closely summer childcare is tied to parents' working lives.

Families requested more than 150,000 hours of childcare through the platform across the summer holidays. Nearly four in five (79%) bookings took place on weekdays, with more than half starting around the morning commute or school run.

Only 13.5% of bookings started after 6pm, suggesting parents are largely booking childcare to help them work, rather than to get an evening off.

And childcare isn't always taking place while parents leave the house. One in six parents said they needed help at home while taking a work call, catching up on sleep, packing for a holiday or simply managing a busy day.

Sarah Hesz, co-founder of Bubble, said: “The summer holidays should be something families look forward to, but for many parents they’ve become one of the biggest pressures of the year.

“Families are juggling rising childcare costs, work commitments and six weeks without school, often without the support previous generations relied upon.

“Modern family life has changed dramatically, but much of our childcare system hasn’t changed with it.”

The summer holidays should be something families look forward to, but for many parents they’ve become one of the biggest pressures of the year.

Sarah Hesz, co-founder of Bubble

Grandparents are filling the gaps

For many families, the answer to the summer childcare puzzle is unpaid help from relatives.

Research from Pregnant Then Screwed found that 80% of parents who use informal childcare rely on grandmothers, compared with just 6% who rely on grandfathers.

The survey of more than 1,300 parents also found that 69% had not been able to fully meet their summer childcare needs.

The pressure can have a particular impact on mums. One in three mums surveyed said they had reduced their working hours during the summer holidays, while 5% said they had left work entirely. More than half (51%) said they were working flexibly to cover childcare.

Rachel Grocott, CEO of Pregnant Then Screwed, said: “When childcare is too expensive, too scarce, doesn’t fit your hours, and still relies on grandparents - all while you’re trying to be present for your kids - it’s no wonder parents are stressed. Especially in a world where most households need two incomes in order to make ends meet, the pressure of the summer juggle is pushing them past breaking point.”

Holiday clubs can cost more than £1,000 per child

For families who can't rely on relatives, holiday clubs can help bridge the gap, but the cost can quickly add up.

Coram Family and Childcare's 2026 Holiday Childcare Survey found that families across Great Britain pay an average of £191 a week for a holiday club place.

For a child attending for all six weeks, that works out at around £1,145. In Wales, the average is even higher at £224 a week, or around £1,342 over the summer.

The survey also found that 67% of parents were using holiday clubs, with almost half spending more than £150 a week and nearly one in three paying more than £200.

For some families, those costs are affecting everyday spending, with 56% saying summer childcare costs affect their ability to afford essentials.

Annual leave is becoming childcare leave

The pressure means some parents are using their holiday allowance to cover childcare rather than taking time away as a family.

Pregnant Then Screwed found that 89% of surveyed parents had taken annual leave to cover childcare, while nearly one in three had taken unpaid leave. Among those taking unpaid leave, four in 10 expected to lose around a week's pay.

Bubble's Sarah Hesz said modern working patterns need more flexible childcare options.

“Today, more households have two working parents, more people work shifts, freelance or outside traditional office hours, yet many childcare options still assume families work Monday to Friday, 9–5.

“Parents shouldn’t have to choose between their career, their finances and their family. We need greater awareness of the support already available, but we also need employers and policymakers to recognise that modern families need modern solutions.”

She added: “That means more flexible childcare, stronger family-friendly workplace policies and childcare partnerships that help parents balance work and family life.”

For parents, it's often a patchwork of solutions

There isn't one solution that works for every family, so many parents are combining different forms of childcare to make the summer manageable.

That might mean using annual leave for some weeks, booking a holiday club for others, asking grandparents to cover individual days and working flexibly when possible. For some, it can even mean taking a laptop to soft play or a playground.

Coram's research also suggests childminders may offer more flexibility than some holiday clubs, with 79% open from 8am to 6pm during the holidays, compared with 57% of holiday clubs.

But with childcare costs rising and places not always available, the six-week summer break continues to require a lot of planning, juggling and, for many families, compromise.

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As Grocott puts it: "Beyond the career and financial impacts, families are losing the time together that matters most. Parents are under too much pressure, and we're watching the cracks widen year after year. It's missed holidays, less time together, stress and a constant feeling of running on empty. This isn't sustainable. We can't keep ignoring the problem and hoping women will continue to absorb the hit. We need to support families properly, and we need to do it now."

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