What's more expensive: the childcare years or the teen years?

[Oddsox1]

Currently paying £1000 a month for 3 days nursery for one child. Second child due to start soon.

Someone please please reassure me that teens won't cost this much?! Chatting to a friend has scared me!

Yep mine went on a cricket tour to Dubai last year 2.5k for 8 days. Just wait until they want to go to Uni.

Childcare years by a lot

Childcare is more expensive as it's a non negotiable. The teenage years can be as much or as little as you choose to spend.

@Oddsox1 I'm afraid it doesn't matter their age they are expensive.

Mine are all grown, jobs, families, etc, yet there are still times my hand is in my pockets to help them.

My daughter went through an awful time last year with her family. I willingly helped out. It cost me £3000 all around.

I don't begrudge it. I have willingly helped all of mine out over the years. However, it doesn't stop costing even after uni.

Fortunately, 3 out of 4 of mine are all well set with high earning careers. It was just my daughter turn last year to hit a rough stage. I think they are over that now, and my daughter is able to return to work now.

You will always need an emergency fund

Again though, financing kids through uni is optional, this is not something have been able to afford to do with our DC and don’t think it should be an obligation either. The thresholds for the full student loan is set ridiculously low. They are adults for goodness sake, so why should parents be being pressured like this into giving up their future security/pensions contributions etc to pay for employers/the country to have a skilled workforce??
Our DC have got by through waiting till older and a combination of student loans and part time work

Uni is really expensive- if you can possibly save for that, you’ll be glad you did! The loans they can access are means tested, so there’s a government expectation that parents will top up. In my case, for dd, there’s a £5k gap in accommodation costs alone, with living costs on top, estimate £350-£550 a month. It’s eyewatering. Still I don’t think that’s quite as much as childcare, so there’s that 😂

Weve spent £2k+ on Scout camps and school trips (for two children) this year.

However... this is a lot cheaper than £1-2k a month on childcare. And its not every year. And... lots of relatives contributed to those trips as birthday and Christmas presents.

I think this will probably depend on whether you are lucky enough to have family to help out with childcare. Our kids are FT in nursery so I would hope that teen years are cheaper but won't know until we get there.

My kids are not teens yet but they just get more expensive! Clothes and shoes cost more, food cost more, their toys and activities cost more, holidays cost more once they need their own plane seat, hotel bed and admission ticket etc.

I don't consider alot of these costs to be voluntary. For instance when they're toddlers they can doodle with cheap £1 markers but when they're abit older and start having to do art projects in school they're going to need the better quality £10 markers.

Brace yourself for Uni, followed a short few years later for an enormous contribution to a deposit on a place to live!

I pay £1400 a month childcare so I’m very much hoping the teen years will be cheaper. I pay for baby classes, gymnastics for 4 year old, clothes for them both, days out to wildlife parks and soft play and lots of cafe trips now, probably about another £400 a month so I can’t see how teens will cost me more then £1800 a month.

Presumably those who are saying teens cost more than early years either didn't pay nursery fees or paid minimal fees?? I'm struggling to understand how a teen can cost more than £1000 a month unless you pay school fees.

Teenagers can get a Saturday job and contribute to the cost of their expensive hobbies. You can't really tell your 6yo to get a shift at McDonald's to help with the childcare fees.

Probably childcare years. The things PP mention eg expensive school trips, designer clothes, expensive hobbies, driving lessons etc are not essential and the teen could save up or parent could say no. Also nursery was cheaper 13+ years ago. Childcare is essential. My DC is still very little, but I'm thinking back to my teen years nearly a decade ago.

My parents didn't help with either. I lived on my maintenance loan at uni and I'm saving for a house deposit.

The older teen years have been our most expensive phase. Adult prices for clothing, school trips, sports, the amount they eat, the amount they shower etc. The eldest is at uni (which is costing a small fortune) and having driving lessons. The younger one is in 6th form and has having driving lessons. Prepare for the cost of driving lessons - they are not cheap.

Primary school was probably least expensive.

£1000 a month is £12K A YEAR. What on earth are people spending on their teens to make it more expensive than childcare??!

DD has progressed from local hobby to elite hobby and the fees have doubled, as well as transport, uniforms etc.

It's still cheaper than her time at nursery.

Teens can be free, but unless I was completely skint I wouldn't deny them opportunities to save a few quid.

I didn't find Teens expensive. Clothes were bought. But also dh is superb at finding almost new suits, Ralph Lauren shirts etc 2nd hand on eBay. Our school had a cheap trip to krakow, we taught ds1 to drive.

As others says what you spend is optimal. For most childcare is essential.

Childcare for us.

My teenagers have worked and saved to buy any expensive stuff they want.

Sports cost the same as they always have, trainers more expensive but they know I’ll only pay for a basic pair and if they want expensive ones they make up the difference. We buy a lot on vinted.

DC1 is going to uni this year but again will need to work.

Yes our food bill is big but not in the same realm as childcare and most of the other stuff is optional.

Mine would have had to choose one of those and would have got contributions towards it for birthday/christmas. I don’t get to go on unlimited trips as an adult so why should they?

Teens for us -
Driving lessons (£150 per month)
University living costs (£400 per month)
Food, clothes, etc.

However we never had any childcare costs so it was a shock to suddenly be paying out 100s each month when the kids had been pretty cheap until then!

Childcare!
I mean, yes the teens eat more than toddlers, and yes, their clothes are more. But the rest is optional. Most expensive hobby is music lessons - but that's still under 100 a month. And the trips are occasional. DS2 didn't want to go on the one he was offered. We've talked DS1 into going to the language trip for his GCSE's - but that was well under 1 months nursery fees.
There is absolutely no way they cost me the £700 each that FT nursery cost back in the day. Yes, there may be the occasional month that comes to that, but it's not both of them month in month out.
Disclaimer: we've not hit uni yet.

I pay 2000 a month childcare (one is in school)
I hope to not be paying this out at the teen stage!
I also wouldn't mind if they don't aspire to go to uni!

We have both and the younger ones are more expensive on a predicable monthly basis due to childcare but the teen is probably just as expensive over the year due to costing as much as an adult for meals and holidays and food plus Christmas and birthdays are more expensive and the things they want are more expensive BUT those things are largely optional compared to childcare and you can say no when they ask for the £100 trainers but you can’t say no to childcare cost increases