Single parent and childcare costs -_-

[SweetheartTreacleTart]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to know how you managed to go back to work after your mat leave ended. I earn around £33k, but I am not going to be able to afford full time nursery fees.

I know that I can apply for support, but when I have done the online calculator things the additional finance from the government doesn't really cover full time care.

Do most people cut down their hours after maternity leave? Stop working all together? I'm so confused as to how it will all work and slightly disappointed that I can't afford childcare.

[Kingsclerelass]

I applied for child care vouchers which are better for most people. Look at Busybees. You can buy £243 vouchers a month which gives you about £50 tax relief each month.
Then I found a childminder near work so I dropped ds at 8.45 & picked him up at 5.30. Fees were about £750 per month, less tax relief = £700.
It was v tight but I made it work. I stopped pension payments for the 3 years, I went onto interest only mortgage. My work wouldn't offer reduced hours. My boss was pretty good though when I needed the odd hour for a dr appt etc.
You can make it work, it just won't be easy for a while. When ds went to school, I picked up the mortgage & pension and paid in an extra £20 a month to catch up. I'm still doing that.

[PersianCatLady]

Were you expecting full time childcare to be fully paid by the Government?

[Audreyhelp]

You can get help but you will have to pay childcare as well. It’s not free.

[DonnyAndVladSittingInATree]

Government assistance will never cover all your childcare costs. Why would it? Did you not expect to have to pay any childcare costs from your own salary?

What is the cost of a full time nursery place? £15k? You will get help towards a portion of that.

[DonnyAndVladSittingInATree]

Generally speaking any time I’ve filled in the online calculators it has worked out better for me to work 16-20 hours per weeks however I get minimum wage.

[grobagsforever]

On 33k as an LP you will get several hundred pounds of tax credits for childcare.

[SweetheartTreacleTart]

@Kingsclerelass thanks. I posted on another board and they also suggested the vouchers too. Very helpful.

@persiancatlady no

@DonnyAndVladSittingInATree Nope, that's not a point I was trying to make at all, I don't believe that a govt should pay for all childcare costs. I had just used the calculator to find out what support I might be able to get. To answer your question, yes I am happy to pay for childcare costs from my salary. What i really wanted help with was understanding what other single parents in similar situations have done when the time came to return to work.

[DonnyAndVladSittingInATree]

Personally I went part time and worked 20 hours per week. But other lone parents will have done different things because Their circumstances were different. Work out what is your best outcome based on the online calculators and make your decision based on that. My 20 hours a week actually cost me as much in fuel and lunches as full time work because it was 4 hours a day, 5 days a week and spread over the lunch shift. If I could have made it over 2.5 days it would have saved me a fair bit each week. Others mightn't have been able to afford that so chosen to go full time instead.

[stepbystepdoula]

It's not easy but you will be able to make it work and feel better being a working single parent, I did!
If your employer us flexible to working from home days or condensed hours that may help, working your hours over 4 days could cut childcare costs. Dropping a day for me worked, taking into account paying less tax, no travel or childcare I wasn't much worse off. good luck 💟

[Kingsclerelass]

STT, the only other thing I found was that staying full-time meant I continued as a "serious employee" ie considered for promotions, new projects etc. Colleagues who went part time somehow got downgraded in people's minds. That was in a large IT company.

If you want to keep a career rather than a job, and you work in the commercial sector, perhaps worth considering.

[MsPotatoHead2]

I went from full time to 3 days pw. I end up doing unpaid overtime but it's worth it for the flexibility. I've got two school age children and can flex it across their school week so my childcare costs are low, if I couldn't flex my hours it wouldn't be affordable and I earn a bit less than you. I suppose it depends on where you live and your childcare costs too. Is there any chance a relative could have your baby one day per week? Or you could work five days in four by working some hours from home in the evening? My employer lets me work flexibly so some of my hours are done at home in the evening/weekend.

Good luck it isn't easy

[ButterfliesAreWeird]

Full time (the 55 hours my nursery is open a week) nursery would cost (without any help) just below 10k a year leaving you with 23. That is way more than enough money. You just need to sort out your finances, figure out how you're wasting money

[zsazsajuju]

It's really hard. My job was such long and unpredictable hours that I just couldn't do it all and manage picks ups and days off. I ended up going from being a high earner to not working at all as just no part time in my area. I have gone back now, but it's really tough being a single parent and trying to juggle a full time job.

Child care vouchers are good. A childminder or nursery when they are wee, I think at your income level you should get some help with that.

I have very little family help but if you do that's a huge help.

Before I had my dcs I didn't really understand how tough it is trying to juggle kids with work and manage financially. It does get easier though (and child care gets cheaper). Best of luck.

[ProseccoOnAGecko]

I think you’d be eligible for the tax free childcare scheme and you’d be better off on that than childcare vouchers. I also think you’d find a childminder a better option. For me it’s cheaper because you just pay for the hours you use not the full session like you do at nursery, and she can do school runs and holiday childcare for my eldest as well. If I need to work late she can pick my eldest up from school and keep them for an extra hour or two. She also does evening babysitting although I haven’t done that yet, but my friend has. It’s just a much more flexible arrangement than a nursery. And I only pay half fees if LOs are ill or we’re on holiday but nursery is still full fees