I can only work 8 hours a week, what can I do?

[mag2305]

I have a toddler and 3 month old baby and will only be able to work 8 hours a week due to family doing the childcare. I'm a primary school teacher and although I'm not in a school at present, I do private tutoring, but only 2 hours at the moment.
I need to find a job with just a few hours but I don't know if I'll find a Jon like that. Any ideas? Doesn't have to be an education type job.
Thank you

@Reduceddutiesboredom

A primary teacher can’t afford child care? What a crazy world we live in.

Highest pay you'll get as a supply teacher is £120 a day (before tax, etc). And for that you'd need to be available 5 days per week, won't be guaranteed work and won't get any work during all holidays and most of September and July.

Child minder or nursery fees are around £50 per day if you're lucky. X2 children = £100. Supply wage £120 before tax at the very very best. Why would anyone gonand teach a group of kids who probably won't listen and give you hassle all day, for free?

Getting a permanent teaching job: I think I took home £1500 working 3 days per week (could have been less). 3x£100 per day childcare =£300. £300x4 weeks per month =£1200. So I'd be working 3 full days a week (so about 20-25hrs as a teacher) for £300 per month. Factor in petrol costs, months being slightly over 4 weeks for child care and I'm working for almost nothing still.

@BrilloSolar
That’s awful.

But, full time standard primary teacher can earn 40k+ a year (I think after a few years in a position) so it’s not all bad if you stay in certain areas.

Hopefully OP figures something out.

@butterfly990

Red wigwam or online tutoring English to Chinese students in China

tutoring to Chinese students online is dead some companies have already shut others not taking new bookings because of the new education laws. There's other companies that cover worldwide like cambly and openeng, but the pay is bad and they're flooded with tutors after the fall of the various Chinese ones.

But yes, you could get some teaching working you're lucky and push hard for it. I emailed all local schools when I needed work after walking out of a job from hell. I sold my strengths, and two schools took me on directly - one was 2 hrs per week doing year 6 maths tuition. The other was one day per week doing PPA cover. I had no links to these schools and was new to the area.

If you can definitely get a full day of child care one day per week at short notice then you could contact all supply agencies in your area and stipulate that that's the only day you can do. (Don't let agencies bully you into only signing up with them- you can be with as many as you like).

Look into online tuition. My last schools paid for maths tuition where the students log in and talk to a tutor via headphones to work through questions.

Find your local homeschooling network (local Facebook groups are good for this) and offer 1-1 or group tuition during school hours if you don't want to tutor evenings and weekends. Put up adverts aimed at homeschoolers in free local Facebook groups.

If you have 8 hours free child care and you just want to make a small amount of money, then put out adverts for free on Facebook for cleaning, ironing, dog walking. If nothing comes of it, you've lost nothing.

Amazon/Uber/deliveroo

What about a personal assistant to someone with a disability? They are only usually a couple of hours a week and usually quite flexible. You do a range of things such as community outings, helping with personal care etc it depends on the person. You could maybe pick up 2 or 3 clients that have 2/3 hours a week?

Sign up to a few agencies for teaching in FE, jobs of a few hours come up quite often

Dinner lady or crossing patrol?

Chaperone in school transport for children with SEN.

Some banks used to employ staff just to cover the lunch breaks but I think this is probably not the case now.

If you are good at Maths then consider tutoring TAs, trainee, failed GCSE students who go to college once a week, Uni students that may want to retake it to gain a higher grade. TAs and teachers must have a minimum C in Maths, English and Science now so if you could teach any of those subject as a small class or privately it would be worth thinking about.
Home working. I know a lot of people will say not to do this but when I had no family support and DH worked away from home I painted for a company so as soon as the kids were in bed I would get 3 or 4 hours a night to me it was money I wouldn’t have earned otherwise.

Is the children's father in the picture?

Can he look after the children while you work, combined with family help and some paid childcare to up your hours significantly?

Plus look at tax free childcare and benefits if your family is on a low income. Plus you'll be entitled to free hours for the toddler soon which will also help. Do you have any savings or can you cut other cothsts to free up money to pay for childcare?

The headline price for full time paid childcare for two children will look very high, but you can cut down the actual impact on your budget with a combination of the above factors.

@BrilloSolar yes, now the OP has 2 children I can well believe the childcare costs would equal her take home pay. But that wouldn't have been the case with just one child. It sounds like the OP gave up her job after the first child, otherwise she'd still be on ML and actually wouldn't have too long until the free hours childcare kicks in for the older one.

It's a tough gig when childcare costs swallow all your take home pay but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile working, particularly in a professional role. I was in that position for several years, nursery for two kids and wraparound for the eldest equated to all my take home pay, but I stayed in work for my career progression and pension. Slightly off at a tangent, but it's worth emphasising that it's what many of us do/ have done. It's way too simplistic to just assume people never work if their childcare costs the same as their earnings

Totally agree @BettyCarver

Admin for vaccination clinics, via an agency?

Bar work at a local pub or self employed cleaner were the first two to spring to mind.

Why would childcare eat up all of your wages? Surely it's a joint expense with your husband, so it might cost the family pot for a short time but you get funded hours in January, most teaching jobs start at the beginning of a new term so perfect timing.

Highest pay you'll get as a supply teacher is £120 a day (before tax, etc). And for that you'd need to be available 5 days per week, won't be guaranteed work and won't get any work during all holidays and most of September and July.
I get £150 a day and £75 for half a day. There is absolutely loads of work where I am (Nottingham). It's not guaranteed work and there is no work in the school holidays but I get as little or as much as I want. I don't make myself available five days a week and I don't do standby either.

There are a fair few Facebook groups about supply teaching OP which would be an easy way of finding out what the supply situation is in your area.

At present, pre school costs £100 a week. Obviously this will change from January. My husband works as an LSA and counsellor in schools, and is on just under £1000 a month. I was working in a school for 10 years until summer 2020 and had to leave as they wanted me to do more days than I could. I then became pregnant and just tutored online during the pregnancy which tied in OK with the lock down. I didn't get maternity pay so financially I need to pick up some more work now. However, being a mummy is my first priority so work right now is purely for finances. I really don't care about career progression right now and tbh, really wouldn't want to go any higher in teaching. Too much stress. We've just moved house and expenses are a little high as we've needed some unexpected work done. We could be entitled to universal credit based on our incomes but as we have just over £16k in savings, apparently we wouldn't be entitled. Not sure if I could transfer some of our savings to my mum so it's under £16k.
Also, besides the financial issue, I'm not sure if I want my 3 month old going into a nursery. She's so little. It just doesn't feel right.
Lots to consider. Thank you for the various suggestions. I think I'll try approaching some schools directly and also look at online work.

[quote Reduceddutiesboredom]@BrilloSolar
That’s awful.

But, full time standard primary teacher can earn 40k+ a year (I think after a few years in a position) so it’s not all bad if you stay in certain areas.

Hopefully OP figures something out.[/quote]
They key part here is "can earn" I've been teaching 10 years and I'm on £38k, if I want to go up now I need to take on more and more responsibilities and it's just not worth it for the extra 1/2k a year.
Having said that why is it always worked out that it's the women who are working "for free" after childcare costs, surely it's better to look at it that both parents are working for a part time wage, you don't see many dad's giving up work because "it's not worth working"

You're suggesting committing benefit fraud by transferring savings to your mother. This is a bad idea. I don't know much about it but you don't want to be investigated and get a criminal record.

Good luck with your job hunt

Teacher

Pay for childcare.

When mine were small, I left teaching and did part time cleaning.

There are very minimal costs in setting up as self employed and most clients want a two or three hour weekly slot during the daytime.

I charge £12.50 per hour but check the going rate in your area. Some areas are up to £15 an hour (average rate).

Look on the Next door app, often people are looking for local cleaners, you can also advertise on there, put an ad in your local shop window or notice board. Although you aren't experienced, you can provide good references of character/reliability etc from previous employers. You just have to be reasonably fit.

It suits me really well, is the least stressful job I've ever had and a bonus is, it keeps me thin and fit because it's great exercise

I never returned to teaching!

Midday supervisors work from 5 to 8/9 hours a week, although obviously on a low hourly rate.

@mag2305

At present, pre school costs £100 a week. Obviously this will change from January. My husband works as an LSA and counsellor in schools, and is on just under £1000 a month. I was working in a school for 10 years until summer 2020 and had to leave as they wanted me to do more days than I could. I then became pregnant and just tutored online during the pregnancy which tied in OK with the lock down. I didn't get maternity pay so financially I need to pick up some more work now. However, being a mummy is my first priority so work right now is purely for finances. I really don't care about career progression right now and tbh, really wouldn't want to go any higher in teaching. Too much stress. We've just moved house and expenses are a little high as we've needed some unexpected work done. We could be entitled to universal credit based on our incomes but as we have just over £16k in savings, apparently we wouldn't be entitled. Not sure if I could transfer some of our savings to my mum so it's under £16k. Also, besides the financial issue, I'm not sure if I want my 3 month old going into a nursery. She's so little. It just doesn't feel right. Lots to consider. Thank you for the various suggestions. I think I'll try approaching some schools directly and also look at online work.

Based on this it would be more sensible for you to return to work and your DH to take paternity leave since you are the higher earner.

However with £16k in savings you’ve either had some inheritance, or you are bloody amazing at budgeting as most people on your wages wouldn’t be able to save that amount of money.

Before you think about claiming benefits you need to use your savings to supplement your income now. It’s what most people have to do when children are young if they want the luxury of a longer mat leave, or only working part time for a few years.

As for an 8 hour a week job, well that all depends on how those hours are split. If it’s 8 in one say I would supply teaching. If it’s 8 spread out over the week then mid day supervisor, tutoring, dog walking, care in the home, etc.

@EdithGrantham
38k a year should be enough to pay for child care tho…
I do agree, the onus is (normally) on the mother to change her career/ working situation. Even in this situation when OP could earn a significant amount more than her partner.

OP - it sounds like you have lots of options,

• use your savings
• you work as a teacher (decent pay, holidays and weekends off etc) and pay child care term time.
• your husband reduces his hours and you become the main earner
• you commit fraud by hiding money and claim benefits?

Depending on your area you could consider working as a nanny.

Lots of different hours available. Well paid.
You may be able to take your baby with you as well so only need childcare for the older one.

@Reduceddutiesboredom absolutely it is and I realise that many people have a lot less and still need to pay for childcare but was just pointing out that £40k for teachers is a top end expectation, there'll be lots on less than that.