Anyone Successfully Hired a Nanny While on UC?

I think though sometimes it’d make sense I have 4dc, last two twins and it’d of been cheaper to hire a nanny than get all 4 or even 3 plus wrap around for eldest. As it was I couldn’t make math work and stayed out of workplace till the twins went to school nursery.

OP, I think you’d be better off asking MN what kind of childcare set up would be best for a family like yours.

For some people, an au-pair and nursery and a childminder for the baby would work. For others working part time would work out best. A nanny is an expensive option, especially one with SEN experience.

You need to cost things up and work out what you can financially afford first of all.

Is your second child struggling with nursery, or are nursery struggling with your child?

How much did you expect to pay???
It sounds to me from what you’ve said that you actually can’t afford to return to work after maternity leave.

Why thankfully? Sometimes a group setting isn’t suitable for a disabled child so the only other option is one parent gives up work and claim more benefits/live in poverty. She’s not looking at this do she can get her nails done. There’s also sorts of additional support for disabled children, how much do you think respite costs? Or specialist schools? Should they be abolished?. Currently the only option for parents of Sen children is to claim carers which is about £80 a week hardly minimum wage.

No one is saying benefits will pay a nanny’s wage. The op is considering her options as she wants to return to work and nursery /childminder may not meet her children’s needs.

I don’t think you’ve gotten much chance of making this work OP. The only time I’ve ever heard of a nanny being employed on UC was for wrap around care.

It did work in those circumstances although it was still expensive, pretty much UC covered sbout half after taper and maintenance from ex paid other half so she and kids were living off her salary. Maybe consider whether you could make it work part time? I suspect though that to pay a nanny per hour you’d be working 1.5-2hrs which can work if it’s just a few hours here and there but not if it’s full time.

It's not what you asked, but from your circumstances it sounds like a nanny might delay the inevitable trouble your child will have with school. It might be worth sticking out nursery with your son to get the proper support in place that would set him up well at an appropriate school.

Yes I have done but it’s hard to find a nanny who is registered. I used childcare.co.uk to search.

This can't be serious

Nannies are top quality childcare for those with high paying jobs. It’s like asking if UC can fund a cleaner gardener a Waitrose shop and a holiday to the south of France.

When I had a full-time Nanny for my 2 primary aged DC (one with additional needs) it cost me well over £50k a year, which included NI, pension etc. I’d be surprised if UC would pay 85% of that sort of money. I earn £££ (in the 1%), and still found it a huge chunk of salary as it was circa £90k of my gross salary to pay that amount of my post tax take-home. There were zero concessions for being this kind of employer.

Never going to happen. Thankfully.

i don’t wish to rain on your parade, but that’s just the gross salary. You should add on an extra 20-30% for employer’s NIC, pension contributions, and employer liability insurance and sundries (expenses, food, mileage, even just the extra costs of heating your home during the working day).

All in, the costs even for a “cheaper” nanny will be around £45k per annum, or £3.8k per month. If UC pays £1.8k per month (haven’t checked this, just going off posts up thread) then you’re looking at a shortfall of around £2k per month to fund.

1 yes if they are on the take

2 What religion expects free money?

3 pill, injection, condom, IUD, morning g after pill, abortion. If none of those you you are not using them correctly so abstain from sex

4 Where is the familial pressure to pay your own way

5 increased numbers if people unnecessarily on the take means there is less for the genuine needy

6 Not jealous of those on the take

Being on the take does not make someone a nice person. I save my compassion for the deservedly vulnerable who need help.

There really is never any reason for the taxpayers to fund a nanny for a low income couple. A carer for medical reasons? Yes. A nanny because they chose to have 3 kids and they’re struggling with it? Paid for by the taxpayer… no. Make your list as many times as you want, the government already provides help towards childcare costs. Asking for a private nanny? Come on.

@Bobiverse

1. benefit bashing
2. a lack of understanding of possible religious beliefs & cultural expectations
3. a lack of understanding of the failures of contraception
4. a lack of understanding of the possibility of any familial pressure e
5. a lack of understanding that the enemy of the poor/working class/middle class is not the poorer people but the tax avoidance mob and the elites and the royals et al.
6. jealousy.

none of these make you sound like the kind of person anyone should heed. Look in the mirror & judge yourself first.

Well the OP hasn't said that she's expecting UC for all the cost of a nanny.

They'll have their salaries as well towards the cost, plus due to their circumstances, they'll probably be entitled to far more than most people.

With two preschoolers, nursery will cost a huge amount so the cost of employing a nanny could be comparable.

I’m usually really against benefit bashing, but this is just a very difficult thread to swallow. They’ve got two kids, two high needs kids, and they’re on UC as neither of them earns well. They’re struggling, yet they’ve having another child and now they’re trying to see if they can get tax payers to fund a nanny, instead of using something more affordable.

There are working class and middle class families who do not qualify for UC who are struggling, so they stop after one or two children because they cannot afford more. And nannies are for the high earners.

It’s difficult to sit and read about a low income family having a third child and wanting a nanny funded by UC.

The other thing to consider OP if you directly employ a nanny is that you'd need employers liability insurance. It would be a legal requirement. That could be several hundred pounds a year.

Someone will be asking for UC for a chauffeur or housekeeper next

did you mean to be so nasty?

"We were" not "we was"

But it isn't enough to hire a nanny - the OP was counting on 85% of it being paid by UC (as in with "extra" money not from her current benefits). As others have point out though, there is a cap which is likely far less than 85% of what a nanny would cost.

I’m an Ofsted qualified nanny & no way would I ever work for £26,000. That’s a childminder salary. For reference I earn over double that working 4 days a week, 12hr days.
Do you live in the South East? Based on the high rent I assume you do. If so, you won’t find an experienced qualified nanny for less than £40,000.

You’re not going to be able to afford it.

What support is it that you think you need? Would afterschool childminder for your middle child be enough, with baby in full time childminder once you’re back to work?

You’re going to be very stretched financially if you qualify for UC. With three children, even with the additional money you get from DLA, you’re going to be financially stretched. You cannot afford a nanny.