Be honest. Who is working from home with younger kids this summer when they shouldn’t be to save on childcare costs?

[Chessboardtable]

Not talking about the self employed who can make their own rules or people with older independent kids.

Who is WFH with younger kids to save on childcare? Even though they strictly shouldn’t be.

I’m not (manic 6 year old & job that demands high concentration!) but noticed that very very few of DCs classmates are using holiday camps despite most having 2 working parents.

We are lucky to have grandma’s help 2 days per week so I only have to use clubs / camps 2x week but it’s still £48 a day (near London).

I know some others have grandparents helping too but surely not for 5 days per week??

So it’s not surprising that people can’t afford clubs and camps.

Just wondering how common it is for people to gave decided not to book holiday clubs and just blag it??

No judgment. Just interested.

I am
using our local camp which is now £57 per day

I really noticed how quiet it was compared to other years and expect this is a reason

I have my 5 yr old for an hour and a half one day of the week, as it seemed daft booking a full day childcare when that's all we need. She does holiday club for 2 days when we need more than that. My boss knows though, and is happy for me to make up the time by working on longer if needed. It's worked fine so far though, as she has mostly played happily on her own or done her puzzle book sat next to me

My job is ft remote anyway, but my asd 9yo can't cope with holiday camps so he's home being neglected but happier all round. We stopped holiday clubs during covid when management were forced to acknowledge people have children and never went back.

I'd struggle with a manic 4 yo though as you can't just leave them for an hour at a time with a basket of snacks.

I've only done it for the odd half day, but my job is the type of job that just needs to be done, no one cares when I do it. If your DC's classmates are at home their parents may have similar jobs, it's not necessarily a piss take.

Personally I wouldn't do it much as I think it's a bit shit for the child and it makes my work take much longer, but fortunately we can afford childcare and DD loves going to camps. If our circumstances were different we may well be doing things differently.

I’m in a similar position to you @WickieRoy

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'young'. I have an 8 yo. Up until last year, she would go to day camps as I couldn't cope juggling childcare and work. This year, she said she'd rather stay at home and potter about while I work. I was sceptical but she's managed fine.

I use a patchwork of solutions including working from home with the 3 of them. My job can be done whenever, so on those days I start early, match my meetings to their screen time and work again once my DH is home. It’s a lot and I couldn’t keep it up for long. Otherwise we have weeks of holiday clubs and a babysitter who I paid to take them out.

I do. 1-2 half days per week. This is for three reasons: 1) money saving, 2) there are very few summer clubs near to us and, 3) most clubs are not suitable e.g. sending my DS to a week's dance class where everyone else is a girl and he does not do dance.

I work 8-6 from home, dh is 8-6 with no wfh ability.

Our options for ds7 are £14 a day for the local leisure centre sports camp (8-3, send packed lunch) or £48 for a holiday club 7-6 (all food included).

We chose the £14 option. I sneakily drop him off and pick him up...only 5 minutes away. Then he's home with me from 3-6 when I'm working.

We've done this for the last 2 years, the cost difference is huge and I'm not paying an extra £34 a day for the sake of 3 and a bit hours. I'm pretty sure I take the piss a lot less than some of my colleagues 🙃

I mean, when I was 12 I watched my younger brother - and was babysitting for other families at 13/14

So I think it depends what age you're talking about. A 10-12 year old surely just needs someone on the house to make sure they're safe - not active parenting

We've done a bit of putting them in front of the telly when pickup is earlier than we finish work but not all day. I don't think it's fair on the kids to do that day in day out.

I have done it occasionally but not a regular thing as it is not fair on DC to do it too often. The odd afternoon of screens won't hurt though.
We've done a mix of split annual leave,. holiday club, friends and grandparents. Dp works shifts which can sometimes be helpful in the holidays as some shifts don't start work until 3pm.

But I have a colleague who absolutely takes the piss with it, she's had 3 young kids home all summer. She's hardly taken any leave but we have very generous annual leave allowance.

My neighbour is. Her child is 3. She lets 3 other children from houses nearby in to her house and garden, to play with her DC some of the day, as it keeps her child occupied. Her DC has a 1-2 hour sleep too. So that is much of the work day sorted. She works 3 days a week one week, 4 the next. Having her DC home saves her a fortune. I don't blame anyone for doing this. Wish I could have when mine were little!

Doesn’t apply to me as mine are older but I’ve got colleagues who have their dc at home with them. Can be annoying sometimes during meetings because we are constantly interrupted and meetings take longer than they should.
I do totally understand why parents feel they want to reduce paying for childcare options because it can be really expensive but I feel like it’s really shit for 5/6/7 year olds to be left to literally their own devices for hours on end.

I did one day and that has put me off/made me appreciate the £££ I’m spending on camps. I’ve not done it before but thought I’d give it a go as I’ve had one at home when poorly and they’ve been no bother at all. I found it was a totally different ball game having two of them at home wanting to do stuff and wanting attention but also the bickering. It’s one thing having a poorly child having a tv and sofa day, another when they’re well and raring to go. I wouldn’t do it again in a hurry.

My friend's colleague is being managed out of her work place for doing exactly this. Management have cottoned on to the fact that she has no childcare while she's WFH and it's impacting her work quite a lot.

They don't want to have an open conversation about it presumably because it has the potential to open various cans of worms so they're performance reviewing her out slowly.

Childcare is so horrendously expensive now but no way would I be able to work at the same time as have my kids at home, they'd be on me constantly or if they were quiet they'd be doing something dreadful like 'bathing the toys' and flooding the bathroom!