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Original poster

The depressing cost of childcare

205 replies

Juicylychee · 30/10/2022 12:54

I’ve been reading about March of the Mummies yesterday, I didn’t know about it in advance to go. I have an almost 2 year old and pay £1k a month for three days of nursery. Really wanted another baby close together but we just cannot afford it. It’s maddening.

OP posts:
Lostintuesday · 30/10/2022 15:37

@gogohmm so again, how do you expect this country to have nurses, HCA's, TA's, people who work in hospitality etc?

musttryharder84 · 30/10/2022 15:54

That works out at over £90 per day - that's very high.
I'm glad the area we live in has relatively low childcare costs as it wasn't something we considered when househunting. But maybe it should have been.
A childminder would surely cost a lot less than this though?

Original poster
Juicylychee · 30/10/2022 16:00

tunthebloodyalarmoff · 30/10/2022 15:36

Why do you think you should have a child and have it looked after for free ?

Where did I say that?

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

2 year olds Childcare & nursery Families
nottodaytomorrow · 30/10/2022 16:03

The work load of the staff for minimum wage too.. so the cost isn't even going there trust me!!

Gigihulu · 30/10/2022 16:04

Mine was £87 a day. After pension and commuting costs I had about £20 a month left over which was spent at Gregg's.

Original poster
Juicylychee · 30/10/2022 17:03

I genuinely don’t know what we would have done if I’d had twins!

OP posts:
SpaceshiptoMars · 30/10/2022 17:07

@Juicylychee I'm sorry you can't have your child yet, and the cost of childcare is diabolical. However, from another point of view, it is better for your health to space them out. My mother didn't, and paid with her life Sad

DoubleBuggyDriver · 30/10/2022 17:07

What is the reason why childcare is as expensive as it is? I’ve never really understood it tbh

JennyForeigner · 30/10/2022 17:20

Juicylychee · 30/10/2022 17:03

I genuinely don’t know what we would have done if I’d had twins!

We did have twins. We are older parents and were running out of time, and desperate for our son not to be left alone. The twins arrived very nearly on his second birthday.

If they were full time in nursery it would be £50,000. We've managed this far with a lot of bridge burning and now I can't honestly see any alternative to me to teaching for a few years.

The flip side of being too old for a gap is that we have things like the house and cars in place, but the sums involved are still just madly unbelievably staggering.

glamourousindierockandroll · 30/10/2022 17:24

I agree. We only send out daughter one full day a week and juggle between GPs and my husband's shifts the rest of the time. I'd much rather she went for 2 days but we'll probably have to wait until she gets her 30 hours in a year's time.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 30/10/2022 17:26

50k

Thats just ridiculous.😲50k😲

tigerbear · 30/10/2022 17:26

Had a conversation with my MIL this morning, who came out with “Well, I just don’t understand why these women are protesting to get cheaper childcare - if they stayed at home and looked after their own children, they wouldn’t have this problem anyway!” 😡😬😬😬

She’s in her late 80’s and had the luxury of having 3 children, being able to stay at home with them, and having a massive house, on her DH’s salary.

the fact that most people simply can’t afford this anymore completely baffles her…

Bestcatmum · 30/10/2022 17:30

1k for 3 days????? Ffs is this the going rate? When I had DS in 1980s as a single mum I could just Bout manage with govern.ent subsidy. If the was now I'd just have to claim benefits until he went to school. How can anyone afford this?

ohyouknowwhatshername · 30/10/2022 17:34

JennyForeigner · 30/10/2022 17:20

We did have twins. We are older parents and were running out of time, and desperate for our son not to be left alone. The twins arrived very nearly on his second birthday.

If they were full time in nursery it would be £50,000. We've managed this far with a lot of bridge burning and now I can't honestly see any alternative to me to teaching for a few years.

The flip side of being too old for a gap is that we have things like the house and cars in place, but the sums involved are still just madly unbelievably staggering.

Show quote history

My DS is going to be 'left alone' 😪

Iguanainanigloo · 30/10/2022 17:34

This is why when mine were small, I quit my 9-5 job and had to do shift work around my husband's job, as we just couldn't afford the childcare costs, but also wanted two close in age. We also were lucky enough to have family to help out so I could pull in extra shifts during the day time, but on the average week, he'd get home at 5:30pm, and I'd rush to work for 6pm, would work until midnight, and then all weekend. It was a hard slog, and I'm grateful they're both now at school and I can work during school hours, but finding a job to fit in with that, was tricky enough! It's really tough going and ultimately in my situation, and amongst friends who did similar, it's always the women that end up taking the career hit after having the first baby, wanting to spend time with their children, and knowing they will be needing the time off for further babies and maternity leave, so subsequently taking on lower paid jobs in the interim, and then struggling to compete with their male counterparts when they try to re enter into a more competitive workforce.

ThatGirlInACountrySong · 30/10/2022 17:38

How much for a days care would you prefer to pay?

What do you think is fair?

JennyForeigner · 30/10/2022 17:42

ohyouknowwhatshername · 30/10/2022 17:34

My DS is going to be 'left alone' 😪

Show quote history

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause anyone pain. All I can say is that DS1's dad is in his 50s and I had a serious health scare when he was tiny which brought it home. It was a frightening time, and we appreciate every drop of our luck since.

Intru · 30/10/2022 17:44

Whizzi24 · 30/10/2022 14:29

Most countries heavily subsidise childcare so that women can go out to work but as soon as that is suggested here you get people moaning about paying for other people's kids (without seeing that most countries do it because it is beneficial to their economy).

Most countries? Do you have a source for that?

Tromboncini · 30/10/2022 17:59

Anyone listen to Women’s Hour on this subject last week? Recommend you do. The headlines as I remember it:

  • documents acquired via FOI show the 30 hours free has a huge shortfall in govt funding, 50% short
  • there is a disproportionate support of 3-4 year olds than newborns/1-3 years
  • in effect, like taxes, those paying full for 1-3 years are subsidising the 30 hours free for everyone. This is a significant contributing factor to high costs
  • massive issue with recruitment and retainment of staff, leading to closure and insecure childcare system which will impact mums going back to work

Early years education is not ‘OFSTED bollocks’ 🤔 Economists have shown every £1 invested saves something like £4 in later years (via benefits, healthcare, penal system etc.).

IceandIndigo · 30/10/2022 18:13

I find it quite strange when people argue that childcare shouldn’t be subsidised by the government because they don’t want to pay for other people’s children, or say things like “don’t have a child if you can’t afford childcare” etc. Schools are funded by the taxpayer and surely exactly the same argument applies?

VladmirsPoutine · 30/10/2022 18:17

IceandIndigo · 30/10/2022 18:13

I find it quite strange when people argue that childcare shouldn’t be subsidised by the government because they don’t want to pay for other people’s children, or say things like “don’t have a child if you can’t afford childcare” etc. Schools are funded by the taxpayer and surely exactly the same argument applies?

It's a very tedious argument I agree because where do you draw the line. These are invariably the same people who don't want to pay taxes for people to sit about on benefits. Tedious to the extreme.

Original poster
Juicylychee · 30/10/2022 18:40

ThatGirlInACountrySong · 30/10/2022 17:38

How much for a days care would you prefer to pay?

What do you think is fair?

It’s not really about this but that it should be subsidised by the government. It is absolutely crippling. I can see how women fall further and further behind men in terms of careers and earning.

OP posts:
NextPrimeMinister · 30/10/2022 18:43

MayFlower22 · 30/10/2022 15:20

It will eventually be better for children and families if the cost continues to rise and more mothers stay at home. Eventually house prices will reflect only one earner and young children can be home with their mum.

Hello, the 1950's just called.

Badnewsoracle · 30/10/2022 18:45

Yep utterly ridiculous cost. £800 with the 30 free hours and tax free childcare. We opted for private school for DC1 (and DC2 when they go next year) because fees plus wrap around care are less than nursery fees!

DazzlePaintedBattlePants · 30/10/2022 18:47

What boiled my piss on the reporting of the March of Mummies is that they made it an entirely female problem. The Guardian article had a couple of single mums talking about how much they paid and never once did the father’s contribution get a mention.

We need to start treating paternity like student loans - it should be impossible to not pay. Once men are paying their fair share, then we can actually start a serious conversation.

Early years childcare is brilliant and can nip so many problems in the bud. Now they’re just passed off to schools.

It should cost a lot. Standards should be high and there should be far greater subsidies.