Pay for childminders

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thanks for taking the time to post here, Uwila, and also thanks for your suggestions.They are great ideas!

Perhaps you could get together with some other childminder and tell them what you charge. I bet you'd get a few raising their rates. And, also, is there ANYTHING you can do to improve the service? Even if you say buy a disposable camera, and take one picture of eack kid each month and send it home at the end of the month. If the kids are old enough, they could even make a paper frame and say "I love mummy" or something. Parents who work and therefore don't see their kids all day will eat that up. So many working mums feel they just don't get enough of their kids. So every little bit that you can give them of theirs child's day I bet will be worth a little extra money to them. Of course, there will be parent who just point blank can't afford it and must seek the cheapest childcare. But, it's worth a try. And it really won't cost you much money.

Fair point, Uwila.

It's just that in reality (or at least where I live) if the parents can get a childminder for £2.50 instead of, say, paying me £4 an hour, they will.

It's been proved time and time again

I don't understand why people are quoting "salary" and "minimum wage" on this thread. These things apply to nannies because they are employees. Childminders, on the other hand, are business owners.

If a childminder is making less money than another childminder in his/her area, perhaps he/she should look into why. I used to have a childminder in Epsom who charges £5/hour and is always full. She works full days, and I once calculated the sums based on the number children, number of hours, and the rate of pay and almost fell off my chair when I realised she takes in about £4000 / month. Everyone pays her in cash, and she reports "some" of it. I don't know how much, but she is no doubt making a healthy income.

I will also say that she is a fantastic childminder. We love her and miss her dearly (we left because we moved and because I wanted a live-in nanny to accommodate my work schedule).

So, I know that Surrey is more expensive, but I still suprised that some of you only charge £2.?? an hour. I wonder if there might be some more services you could offer to your parents (like a friendly newsletter to keep them informed of what their kids are doing, or possibly give them daily reports of progress???)

It seems to me, though, that as a business owner it is up to you to sort out how to market and sell your services for a reasonable profit. Whether that is more kids or additional services, I don't know. But, I do think that parents will pay a bit more for a "better" childminder. For example, the reason I paid £5/hour was because I was working long hours and showing up on time was often something I could not promise. So, we had a deal (up front) that any additional hours would be charged at straight time and at the end of the week she would add up the number of hours I had gone over in total that week and I would settle the extra fees each Friday.

A nanny earns her wage and has virtually no expenses (tax & NI-maybe pension).

A childminder has a vast number of expenses in my first year I spent over 10K on being a childminder (all expenses on my self assessment - filled in by a Tax Officer and aproved as normal and necessary)
So I earnt that year -£800 (ie a loss)

This year I might earn as much as £4500 for a 52.5 hr week - (50 weeks a year)
I accept that I chose this as a job - I just wonder at parents priorities. I charge a lot in my area - but I am full, others who charge less have vacancies. Maybe I could charge more....I will gradually as I feel you get what you pay for.

This isn't a whinge btw - just a statement of facts

artyjoe, what you said really rings true. I have always believed you get what you pay for, and if I had a childminder I would try to pay her as much as I could ,no matter the going rate, as I believe the effort you put in to a job usually equals how well you feel you are treated both financially and the respect you get.
That's why the low rate sticks in my throat.

Sorry, moaning again!!!

Just one thing I'd like to add after reading comments regarding hourly rates on this thread...

I will charge £5 per hour from August and if I have 5 children my hourly rate would be £25.

My main question is who cares and why justify it?

The instructor on our ICP course earns over £35,000 a year as a childminder...good for her. She obviously does a fantastic job and an incredibly important one. The most important thing, in my opinion, is the CM earns a salary that she feels she is worth in order to excel in her position as childminder. If you look after 3 children for £8 an hour, on top of your own children, then where is the incentive to NOT put them in front of the TV?

I know rates are relative and as I live on the outskirts of London it may seem a lot of money to say someone in Cardiff, obviously salaries and expenditures are radically different, but in this part of the country, if I had a choice between someone charging £2.50 per hour or £5 per hour, I'd go with the £5 every time if I could afford it...my attitude is you get what you pay for and when it comes to the most precious thing in your life I'd want to know the person looking after my child was well compensated and not resentful of a low salary!

Just my opinion of course

I do accept the rate is market driven. Also a childminder can take on more kids and earn more that way. I guess I'll just have to get on with it and stop moaning!!

In response to the original post, I think 2.50 is a poor rate, but, as has already been pointed out, it is market driven and if others locally, or the local nurseries are charging the same, and there isn't an overwhelming demand for childcare places, there doesn't seem to be much choice unless you get together with other childminders in the area and agree to work together to increase it.
I pay £3.50 an hour which includes food and play activities but not nappies and wipes. I pay for bank holidays and for holidays if we take them when our cm is available. I don't pay when she's on holiday. I do pay when dd is at nursery when she would otherwise be at the cm, and cm has dropped off and picked her up (which means my hourly rate is more like £8 in total for those four hours).
I couldn't afford it if it was more like £5 an hour and am timing the conception of my next child to fit in with nursery vouchers going live for dd! (My cm is accredited and can take them). My cm takes one other child of pre-school age and one or two of school age, and she earns more than I do. Can't say fairer than that really!

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ssd - I know that you have had to work hard to become a qualified nursery nurse and I agree that with the qualifications you have you should get more, but obviously when people are looking for a childminder they are not expecting to get or pay for a n.nurse. I am not saying that we are paid enough I just meant that for a lot of people (especially where I live in small town in the East Midlands) the rate charged is the rate people can afford as there are not a lot of highly paid jobs round here. Most of the childminders I know work for parents who have to go back to work out of necessity and not to further their career.
I think that maybe in different parts of the country this is not the case as wages are probably a lot higher so therefore childcare costs are a lot higher. I do not mean that I do not think we deserve to get paid more I just meant that I went into childminding knowing I wouldn't be getting a lot of money, but I do get a lot of job satisfaction.

feelingold, I'm sorry but your post is confusing me. I didn't become a childminder to earn a whacking wage, but it sticks in my throat the fact that I'm a qualified nursery nurse, with lots of nanny experience, but I'm only paid £2.50 per hour as that is the going rate. It makes me feel undervalued and underpaid. So saying I'm not in it for the money is true, but I would still expect a decent hourly rate for a hard but important job,not an amount I would tip my paper lad for delivering the papers.

When I first started thinking about becoming a childminder I spoke to a few people who were already childminders and all of them told me that if I wanted to earn a lot of money childminding was not for me so I knew what I was letting myself in for, but I am not complaining as I need to be here for my kids in the holidays and it allows me to be whilst earning some extra cash which is always useful. Some of you obviously feel that you are not appreciated by your mindees parents, but I must say this is not how I feel. They always check with me before ageeing to do extra hours at work, are never late picking up their kids and are like friends.
I know I am very lucky as my mindees are great too, they make themselves completely at home and are very well behaved and have become like part of the family. The pay for childminders round here is anything from £2 to £3 per hour, which is very low, but then again the pay round here is lower than in other places as we are a small town. I think if you go into childminding it has to be something you really want to do and not something you think will make you lots of money, but having said that considering you are looking after the most 'precious thing' a parent has the
hourly rate is very low.

I am not a childminder but I am interested in this thread and agree that double standards operate when it comes to people paying for childcare. They want the earth but don't want to pay for it.My dd goes to a childminder who charges £4.75 p/h ( in London) plus holiday and sick pay and I am happy to pay this as she is wort it and my dd loves her and is settled.I get so furious when people whine about someone who is charging less than the minimum wage. I have been reading a thread ( yesterday and today) where people are moaning about nannies being sick and having to pay them sick pay and I just feel the whole world seems to be full of skinflints and tightwads.Maybe I am overreacting!

The respect or lack of it is deffo the worst aspect of it

Why do parents think it is OK to treat us soooooo badly?

After all we are doing a very very very important job

I work 52.5 hrs a week for 50 weeks a year.

I can regularily have 4 to 6 children. But I loose money on days like today. I had 2 children from 10 - 2 =£24 for the day.

So it average down so easily. Like Artyjoe I run a small business and I'm hoping to expand. But I did go into C/Ming for the money and would like to earn a decent amount. If I went out to work I wouldn't need to pay childcare and could earn far more - however health problems ensure that C/Ming is one of the few F/T jobs I could do.

I enjoy being my own boss - but resent the lack of respect from some parents. Others respect me and my proffession, why can't they all?

I think it is certainly a job that is done for the love of it

I love teaching the mindees different things even building a tower of bricks or a jigsaw puzzle

Their faces when they achieve something they have been trying to do.

I pay DS's childminder £6 p.h. (in London). She has him 1 day a week. She's not cheap but she is fantastic, DS adores her and I'm very happy and confident that he's in safe hands. If she has time she writes a diary of their day so I know exactly what he's been doing what he's eaten etc. which is lovely.

Yes I agree

but I do get cross when others say they are only paid below the Minimum wage

Why is that all that is paid?

I am above the minimum wage as I would not consider working for less

Not wanting to be shot down or anything but...I think it depends on how you view yourself to be honest rather than what parents expect.

Having said that, I personally am not looking at childminding as a way to stay at home with my children, I am looking at it as an exciting new business venture that will hopefully bring me great personal reward with a view to eventually opening up a small nursery.

I will be registered soon and will charge £5 per hour and hope to have 3 children on board - I am based in Surrey.

I am glad that my DH has a good job

As mine is just for extra spending money

certainly not a wage

My old mindee family had one child and earnt over 80,000 nearer 90,000

she gets cash in hand as well.

I pay mine £5 per hour and she has both my kids. She comes to my house and I provide all food.