Mumsnet Talk

An old work colleague has just rung and invited me to apply for a job with them.

I have gone through the entitled to site and so have worked out benefits etc.
But the thing I know nothing about is childcare.

DD is 15 months and assuming I work an 8 hour day with an hour each side for commuting then she would need 10 hours care a day.

How do people find that?

Also how does childcare assistance work?
Is is means tested?
Do I pay and get reimbursed?
Is it something to do with vouchers?
How much might I expect this amount of childcare to cost per week?

I have to ring them back next week to discuss futher so I need to get my head around it.

Maybe I should have posted on the childcare boards - see I don't even know the best place to post about it!

You can check what benefits you can get on entitledto.com - depending upon income you can get upto 80% of the childcare paid

Or your future employer may operate the childcare vouchers - which means you get £243 a month before the Tax & NI is taken off

It's not normally worth having both

Childcare can cost from £2.50 phr upto £7/£8/£9 (plus)phr depending upon what you choose Nanny/childminder/nursery & where you live

Thanks Katymac.

I've done the entitled-to and if my understanding is correct then the childcare contribution comes under the guise of working tax credits?
Which is based on income.

The job is in London and I am not sure that the company do vouchers.

SO London.....hmm childcare costs are a bit of an unknown there

Have a lot at providers here & yo should get an idea of costs

Thanks for that link - very helpful.

How do folk manage with daycare that finishes when you can't get back from work in time.
Say daycare finishes at 5 and you can't get there till 6?

You have to choose one that finishes later. My current one finishes at 6.30. The one we are moving to is 6pm but I wont get there is time so I have an arrangement with one of the girls who works there that she will take my child back to my house for 30mins or so until I get there. Obviously this is an extra cost.

Is a juggling act!! It can work but you have to be organised. Also it has to be worth it...

You choose a childminder (but if you look at my profile I would say that )

Seriously Nurseries open 'til 6 normally - but as you say what happens if you are late - usually you get stuffed with a very large late fee

Nannies are possible but au pairs wouldn't really do that level of work

gkf - how do you quantify worth it? Worth it to be a little bit better off, with me working but with a more hectic lifestyle.

We currently live by the seaside with mum up the road.

The work thing is the thing I worry most about for the futre, so it is wonderful to be rung up out of the blue and offered this opportunity but it seems such a complicated situation to negotiate.

I guess I mean worth it financially (as others have said, childcare is expensive) and also worth it for your quality of life and also for your little one- it is a long time for them to be away from you (mine is away 10.5 hours a day, 4 days a week, which is never what I intended). It is worth it for me personally though, its just something to think about. I dont think I thought it would be quite so hectic to balance it all.

Agree it is great to be called out of the blue and offered a job- in one sense you could give it a go and see how you get on?

Good luck

I work 8 hour days with 40 mins - hour commute either end (work in different places). I have a CM and I pay her £45 a day to look after my DS for that time and provide him with 3 meals a day. I'm in inner London.

I used to send him to nursery but as katymac says, my CM is a lot more flexible - if I'm stuck on the tube/in traffic, she is very happy to take care of him for another 10-15 mins and never charges me extra.

I have childcare vouchers from my job and also get tax credits and some other kind of credit which contributes towards the costs of childcare (working tax credit?)

Thanks everyone.

I have decided to go up and talk to them about it this week. In my heart of hearts I don't really want to move to London. I loved living there when I was single but that was then.

The childcare link was really helpful in giving me an idea of different options and costs.

I've run several scenarios through entitled-to and believe it or not it works out financially better for us if we stay where we are and I negotiate to work in London two days a week and from home three days.
The ideal would be mum looking after DD while I in London and CM while I am local.

Now I just have to convince them of the beauty of my plan.

It's all doable. What makes a big difference is how much you earn to be honest. I personally prefer nurseries to CMs, but my DD (now nearly 5)is an only child and I wanted her to have lots of interaction and get used to lots of different people.

My nursery was open 8am to 6pm and she started at nine months old. She loved it and stayed until she started school this Autumn.

You can get lots of information from the Ofsted website or most Councils have a service where they send you information. Visit plenty of nurseries and go with your gut feel, also don't expect them to have places as many have waiting lists especially for that age group.

If the company doesn't do vouchers, ask them to start; it's really very easy. I think working is good for a range of reasons (self esteem, role modelling, I would be an unhappy SAHM), but on a practical level now that DD is older and at school, I can concentrate on my career a bit more which ironically makes life easier, partly because I work 4 days a week at a more senior level so earn more money!

ok I have a question. What happens if your child is of school age but you still need childcare. My DD goes to primary school and i don't work (i study) but when i do go back to work i will still need someone to pick her up from school and stay in until i get in. Do tax credits pay for a nanny?

Tax credits will contribute towards the cost of a nanny but they're expensive. A lot of CMs do school pick ups. Does your child's school not have an after school club?

yes it does but I will work as a beauty therapist and sometimes that might involve working till 8pm or even 9pm and even saturday sometimes. So i have this dilemma if i should get an au-pair and rent a bigger house or just get a childminder.

You'd probably be better off with an AP then because you'd get a bit more flexibility and it means they'd be able to put your DC to bed if you're working late.

yeah that's what i thought as well, but since she will be at school all day.....what is AP going to do all day? but on the other side is good if i also wanna go out sometimes.

Check with your local council, but ours gave me a list who will childmind at your house. That way they can picke her up, feed her and put her to bed so that you can have the flexibility you need for work. And maybe even a social life.