To be a bit depressed by these figures regarding childcare

[menazovut]

I'm a teacher near the top of the main scale with a (small) management point, so in other words respectable pay. Money is tight though, plus working 3 days isn't great for professional development so I thought I'd pick up a 4th day. I've just calculated that certain months the extra childcare would be MORE than the extra pay, depending on how days fall that month. This taking into account tax, childcare vouchers etc.

It seems like madness that with a very decent job it's still not work my while to work. Many of my friends are in the position were they simply can't afford to work, with ONE child of nursery age. It feels a bit like the balance has gone.

[ilovedora27]

Unless the government subsidises it for all there is nothing much that can be done. Most childcare workers are on the minimum wage or thereabouts so wages cannot be cut any lower.

[menazovut]

As a teacher I am a childcare worker ;-)

[BelleDameSansMerci]

I don't think there ever was any balance and there certainly won't be in the current climate.

My childcare costs account for nearly 1/3 of my "flat" monthly income (I work in sales so I get bonus on top of my basic pay) and I am well paid. Even tax relief on the full amount paid would be helpful but there is no chance of that.

[DialMforMummy]

I could not agree more. I am happy to pay for childcare but I can not comprehend why it is not made more affordable for people like you and me. The sad thing is that because of that we could not afford 3 children.

[ilovedora27]

I am a nursery worker and get paid 6 pound and my manager 6.55. Most actually under school age children are on that type of wage and it is a lot lower paid than teaching, even with similar qualifications.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I can see both sides. Yes of course you want it to be affordable. I have a child in nursery too and if she was full time there'd be no point in me working. But at the same time, why should a whole section of the working population be paid less than everyone else?

[ilovedora27]

DialMformummy have you thought about having your children far apart if you can? We want 3 children and are having to do it one child, then when that one is at school have the next and so forth and that saves costs.

[menazovut]

I take home £400-500 a month after childcare, for one child in London. The cheapest flat (studios) here rent for about 600-700, a room in a shared house for about £500-600. Even with my (good) job I couldn't work as a single mum.

[DialMforMummy]

I would not want nursery workers to be paid less but rather more subsidies from the government or maybe some sort of mean testing?

[menazovut]

ilovedora, I was joking about pay-it's not great pay at all for nursery workers.

Though I know a qualified teacher working in a nursery as this particular one lets her child attend for free thus working out more ! (I bet this is rare...)

[DialMforMummy]

ilovedora27 I don't think it's a goer because I am getting on a bit...

[menazovut]

In do think just from a practical point, would I stop working it would be cheaper to temporarily subsidise my childcare than pay for me to be supported out of work. My friend has left a decent job to do this for a few years. Childcare vouchers are crap tbh.

[dolldaggabuzzbuzz]

Earning more money is not the only point of working more hours. You have a career, teaching is not just a job.

[ilovedora27]

I take my DD to my nursery and I get paid 629 a month and my childcare was 480 a month until recently but now she has 3 it has gone down. I do get some help towards it with TCs though, but I wouldnt be able to have more than 1 child at a time

[DialMforMummy]

The other thing of course is pensions. If you work less, your pension will be crap so in the long run it's probably best to keep working if you can afford it... (I can't believe I just wrote that "being able to afford to work")

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Yes it's expensive, but it's part of the calculations you do when having children. Children cost money, even if you don't put them with a childminder or nursery. The first years cost the most and everyone has to raid savings and cut corners to make it work. There are things like CTC that can make up some of the shortfall if you qualify. But if you make the investment in the early stages and keep your career moving forward, when they get to school and the care costs drop considerably, you're far better off than you might have been.

[menazovut]

DialM- mentioning teacher's pensions (!)

Seriously, about career progression. I think once you're what many call a 'TWAT' (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) teacher your credibility is LOW.

[bubbleymummy]

I think salaries should have risen more over the years than they have. They have not increased in line with cost of living at all. If people weren't having to pay such a large proportion of their wage on their mortgage/food/petrol/electricity/heating then they would be able to afford childcare easier. I don't think it was as much of a struggle 15-20 years ago. My aunt had a good job and had all 3 children in childcare and still took home a decent wage.

[Francagoestohollywood]

The only solution is imho government subsidies, like other European countries. But it is unlikely in the current climate. Here where I live (mediterranean country) the money invested in childcare is less and less every year.

[triskaidekaphile]

I don't know what the answer to this one is. Our family has been absolutely brassic since our youngest started in childcare. It costs as much as our mortgage to send her to nursery and we, stupidly, just hadn't planned for that. I am paying around quadruple the amount I paid for my older kids about 10 years ago and had no idea that childcare costs had risen so much. Yet it's by no means the most expensive provision in town. And as ildora says nursery workers and childminders are paid a pittance. It's really tough on everyone.

[Goblinchild]

You are a teacher, so why not move jobs to somewhere a lot cheaper?

[menazovut]

Goblin-Where are these cheap areas of the country with lots of jobs that both my husband and I could easily get new jobs? We moved to London as the jobs are here. Where we lived before there were over 100 applicants for each job. We moved here and then it took two years to sell our 3-bed house/ huge garden near Wolverhampton (72K) and get a tiny flat here (nearly 200k).

[Goblinchild]

So you moved from a cheaper area to London. I did the opposite.
I looked for jobs in the North, where I knew that I could afford a house.
YANBU to be depressed and fed up about the costs of child care, and the fact that it is almost impossible to buy a home in the SE unless you are seriously wealthy or have an inheritance.

[Goblinchild]

Took two years to sell my house when I moved back south too.