Parents face a sharp increase in nursery fees from January as new government - subsidised children's centers drive up staff costs for private daycare. Children centres are offering up to £7,000 a year more for managers and nursery nurses to staff their premises, forcing private providers to match the pay offer or risk losing their best employees. Fees are private nurses' only source of income so they have no option but to pass on the 12-15 percent salaries increase to parents. Salaries account for 80 per cent of running costs and fees are an average of € 140 a week. The anunual pay survey for Nursery World magazine found that the salary of a nursery manager in the private sector had risen by an average of 12.3 per cent this year , to € 21,547, as owners attempted to hang on to their staff. Despite the increase, children's centers are offering about £27,000 for a manager. Senior nursery nurses have had an average 17 per cent increase this year, with salaries of about 14,000 euro, but could still earn up to £17,000 if they switched to a children's center. "Children's centers are heavily subsidised and are offering much bigger salaries than anywhere else in the sector”, said Claire Schofield , head of membership at the National Day Nurseries Association. “Shouldn't the subsidy be available across the board ? Private providers currently account for 78 per cent of all nursery places. Each centre will offer daycare and the cost of each place will be about € 250 a week, well above private sector fees. But a generous subsidy administered by local authorities brings the fees down to about €137 a week. Liz Roberts , editor of Nursery World , predicted that many nurses would face financial difficulties as a result . “Nurseries will put up their fees a bit , but there is a limit to what parents can afford so it is becoming terribly difficult. Some nursery owners barely pay themselves as it is , so may just decide to close , she said . A Department for Education and Skills study found that only 25 per cent of private nurses made a profit with 31 per cent breaking even . While children's centers will offer parents value for money at first , there is no guarantee that the Government will continue to pay the subsidy. If the funding is reduced , parents will have no choice but to pay more for their nursery places. Parents have also made clear during public consultations that they live private and coluntary sector nurseries, which are often smaller and more intimate than local authority providers and the Government has said that it is committed to diversity of supply. 1. Why do private providers feel they need to pay as much as children's centres? 2. What is the most a senior nursery nurse could earn? 3. Out of all children, how many take up places in nurseries? 4. What do nursery owners do if they cannot afford financial support? 5. What types of nurseries do fathers and mothers prefer?