Can anyone beat this? (Cost of nursery)

[smokealarm]

So I'm slowly thinking about a return to work. Our nearest nursery charges £2,100 for a full time place 😳 Jesus wept.

MerryMarigold, so you traded in somewhere between £48k to £480k (depending on when you go back to work, estimating £1k after childcare/month earnings with 4 yrs SAH) to save the few £k of childcare bills a year....,that’s just very bad maths.

I guessed Bright Horizons from the price chart! DD used to go to one of their nurseries albeit a few years back now. They weren't the most expensive either.....

Bloody hell!! Ours is £6 a session - mornings only....

I've heard that BH is one of the most expensive around. We're in SW London and just chose a nursery for our 9 month old. I went to view many and found they ranged in price from around £1350 to £1750 for a 5 day week. A friend visited A BH nursery and said it was around £2k.

A nanny would be more expensive.

A childminder, live-in nanny or nanny share would be cheaper though.

Any child care in London is eye-watering though!

You’ve beaten our local nursery by £50!

We have a nanny for the same cost, and she cleans the kitchen every day, and doesn’t refuse to look after DS when he is ill

It's criminal isn't it. We use a Bright Horizons (Bucks) and to be fair it is brilliant. Long hours, flexibility with the days we book (my partner works shifts so we book inconsistent days each week). Fresh quality food, great relationships with carers. We average about £970 a month for 13-14 days.

All though it's expensive I'd choose Bright Horizons over Action For Children's Spring nurseries ANY day, horrible, horrible company especially considering it's supposed to be a charity.

Ours is open till 6.30 though. And even when I run late from work and pick up at 6.28 they still take the time to go through his daily sheet with me and talk about his day

At least with a childminder or nanny all that money you're paying goes to the person who is looking after your child. Unlike a nursery where the person actually caring for your child is probably on minimum wage or just above.

Christ. You need a me

Self mployed nanny who only charges for what you need.

bloody hell

For all month from 7am to 6pm I don’t think that’s an awful price to be honest

These people take care of your most precious thing, see them more than you do yet many people think it should be dirt cheap

Think it's fairly average in London but def shop around.

Make sure you apply for tax free childcare if you go ahead. It will save you 20% off that.

"It's criminal isn't it"

no. they are looking after your DC, it's not meant to be crazy cheap!

You can get a nanny for that and not have to rush back....

My DS used to go to a BH in SE London and they were at the cheaper end of the scale . The staff were great though. It's a shame the fees don't reflect their salary.

Wowsers @tenbob! Are you in London too?

I honestly can't justify going back to work at the moment. I think a nanny would be more expensive after adding on nanny tax, though admittedly I haven't done my research yet.

A live-in nanny would be so much cheaper but sadly we don't have the space.

@Grace212 I appreciate that. And I am grateful. As you can see from the rest of my post, I was actually saying how happy I am with the nursery that charges that much. It doesn't stop me thinking it's criminal that I have to pay more than my mortgage to get good childcare, considering how expensive the UK is to other countries.

A nanny would be more expensive, but a nanny share or childminder should be cheaper, although probably actually not that much cheaper.

Dear God! I genuinely had no idea London prices were that high. I thought the £700 a month I paid was bad enough. £2100 is my take home salary!

@smokealarm the franchise of bright horizons we use is £800 a month full time!

Big city in south west

Wow! Our household income for a family of three is far less than that!

Move north, it's way cheaper

I simply raise you twins. That is a true killer in terms of childcare expenditure. I've never dared add up how much we've spent on childcare since I went back to work.

That's why I'm in a nanny share.

Couldn't entertain this sort of price in London and be called at work when DD had sniffles and 37.5.

I pay £1600-1700 a month for a five day week with 7:30-7 and DD goes in happily snotty nose and all and has a lovely family like experience.

@RetroFair I can imagine! I hope its a job you love with career prospects.
For me it was an easy decision to stay at home for now as I didn't like my job but that doesn't mean I won't like to return to work at some point in the future.