The average London nursery and indeed childminder charges around £60 per day per child, some more , some less but thats probably the average. Thats £300 pw or £15 K per annum. If you are lucky to live near and get into either a Surestart facility or one run by a Childrens Centre, you know those monstrosities set up by Labour, then you would pay around £40 per day. As a parent of three my childcare costs per month for 2 days childcare per week are £1400 and that includes sibling discount and the nursery subsidy for three year olds. Believe me, if we had family or friends at the ready with time to spare then we would be off like a shot. But I suppose social leeches like us who don't have that sort of support network should never have had children at all.
Giving up work is not an option for either of us or probably most people as its now very hard to get back on career ladders once you are off it, and from previous experience and knowing that of others there are plenty of employers out there who would try and avoid hiring parents especially mothers of young children.