Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable

experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC

makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected,

find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts. podcasts. At 8 in the morning I dropped my 2 year old daughter off at nursery. By the time I

reach work an hour later I'll have paid the nursery around six pounds

40 to look after her. And by the time I pick her up, I'll have paid about 64 pounds.

We're in London, so it's more expensive than the national average,

which works out at 53 pounds a day.

For parents sending a child to nursery or week that could easily cost over a

thousand pounds a month and at that kind of price it's easy to see why some

parents say their child care costs are higher than their mortgage payments,

especially if they have more than one child under five.

I'm Charlotte McDonald. You might know me from Radio 4's Numbers and Statistics

program more or less. For analysis I'm going to be turning my statistical gaze

to the issue of child care and more specifically are we asking

what's child care actually for? When parents like me pay our nursery fees are we spending that money on ourselves so we can go to work,

or are we spending the money on our children to enable them to socialise and introduce them to education?

...