Parents' nightmare as schools close for Royal Wedding, Bank Holidays and Referendum

With the weather improving and a flurry of bank holidays approaching, children across the country are looking forward to a month of unexpected leisure.


But millions of parents are facing an unprecedented childcare headache in the coming weeks, as a “perfect storm” of the Royal Wedding, Easter holidays and AV referendum see schools shut their doors for longer than ever at this time of year.

Children whose schools are used as polling stations in the May 5 referendum and council elections will be at home for a total of 14 weekdays over the next month.

Parenting groups warned that the extra days off will put families under strain, as working parents struggle to make childcare arrangements for the unusually long break.

Economists have warned that the extra bank holiday on April 29 will knock a quarter of a percentage point of growth off the economy. Business groups expect productivity to suffer to the tune of £6bn.

The one-off bank holiday falls at the end of Easter week and is the day running into the May Day bank holiday weekend. As a result, it will create two consecutive four-day weekends.

It follows the two-week Easter holiday for schools, which starts on Monday 11 April.

Hundreds of primary schools around the country will also close on May 5 when the country goes to the polls in the referendum on adopting the Alternative Vote electoral system and the latest round of council elections.
The effect on families is expected to be particularly acute after new figures from the Office for National Statistics showed last week that 66 per cent of mothers now go out to work, while almost a third hold down full time jobs.

From The Telegraph