To pursue childcare career or give up now?

[PorphyrophillicPixie]

My and my partner are both 20, turning 21 in the next few months. At the moment we're living with my parents trying to find work and whatnot.

I've managed to find a nursery willing to take me on as relief staff, possibly turning into a more regulated position (either full or part-time) later on, depending on if they get funding for one-to-one children. I'm unqualified, so it's impossible for me to find somewhere who'll take me on to train let alone earn some money too! But this place are going to help me get my level two and possibly three so that I can fulfill my ambition to nanny later on.

The problem is, me and OH are living with my parents and really want to move out, this is looking more and more unlikely now that I'm going to try get my childcare qualies and unless he's earning £15000+ we wouldn't be able to support ourselves and though we're hopeful he'll become a PCSO (£18000 per year) we aren't sure it'll happen. I could pitch in a small amount of money, especially if I get full time work in this nursery, but it's unlikely I'll be able to pitch in much as I'll be paying for transport and courses based on whatever I earn.

I feel terrible having him as the main earner and not being able to pitch in much if anything, but I've been desperate to pursue a childcare career and I'm finally getting the chance. He reckons I should go for it but is talking about trying to earn £1000 a month which would mean two jobs and a 50+ hour week for him

I'm trying to keep in mind that within the next year or two we want to start our family too so I'll be giving up work for a short while then anyways

Should I just give up the childcare career and get a full time job that pays decently or go with it and let him pay for us to live whilst I work on my qualifications?

if its about the finances then i think you should look at other careers because unless you are level 3 atleast you will never earn more than minimum wage which obviously will mean you will have to work alot of hours to bring home any sort of money. With regards training there are alot of schemes and grants available to employers in nurseries etc currently that will fund you to get qualified but obviously your employer will want to be certain you are right for their setting before starting you on any training scheme.
As an example i am a qualified level 3 ex nursery manager and ex childminder with 14 years of working in childcare and am currently on minimum wage as a room leader in an after school club and the max i have ever earnt even whe i was a manager was £7.20 per hour and that was only 5 years ago!

Childcare is not a job if its about the money you truely do have to love working with children and accept that the rewards are not financial!

Could you see if there is anywhere near you where you could do an Apprenticeship in Childcare? You wouldn't earn as much as if you got a full time job but you would be getting your qualification at the same time as earning something.

I honestly love working with kids beyond anything else, I don't want to worry about the finances because I desperately want to work with children, always have done! I love it and would go into the outdoors instructor industry instead of training as a nanny but it will cost me 5 times the amount for the qualies I need so that's not an option either

My employers know me already but they don't supply grants for anybodies training, the only places that do that want me to work 40 hours a week for £80 a week (an apprenticeship) and I can not do that again, it's not worth the hassle with travel (which would cost up to £50 a week once we move out) and trying to have a life on meager earnings. I can work two full days in this nursery and earn the same amount and know that I can finish an NVQ 2 in 6 months max if I want too (aiming for less as long as the tutor cooperates!), not the year-18months that they drag it out for.

Gah, I'm so confused as to what to do. I thrive in childcare, I couldn't stand being in an office but it's the only thing that would enable OH not to work his arse off to support us. But at the same time I know that within two years we'll be starting a family and he's going to have to support us whilst I'm on maternity leave anyway. I just feel entirely selfish though, why should he have to pay out for a flat for us to live in? I hate the idea of being semi-dependant on him as much as I hate the idea of not working with kids

How about looking at how much a job as a mothers help would earn? That's one way into nannying... get some experience while the mother is around and then after that you could apply for some nanny jobs. Not everyone would only want a qualified nanny.

There's no MH jobs about to be blunt. In fact, there's very few jobs of any kind about! Just care work, which I managed two days in before leaving in tears last week!

I was just very lucky that I know the nursery staff from voluntary work years ago and they mentioned that they needed more relief staff and possible full-timers later on. I contacted local nurseries and not-so-local nurseries and they offered 40-hour apprenticeships but nothing else because I'm unqualified.

In regards to nannying around here: I'm an unqualified young woman who says that she wants to nanny. The jobs here are so few and far between that local nannies with 10+ years experience, ofsted regs and level 3's are offering to work for less than average wage and I cannot compete with that. I have youth on my side which attracts people, but I don't have qualies, which people want even more... Not to mention that I also have to 'compete' with the other young women who are offering to work for stupidly low wages just to get a chance to nanny.

I feel like giving up on the only thing I've ever wanted to do

Would you have enough time to do something like bar work in the evenings or work in a shop on Saturdays, would that give you and OH enough cash to move out?

Yes, in fact that would be ideal! But there's nothing around until we move out. I live in Clacton, Essex at the moment and the only work besides Care Work in the area is in Colchester really, so once I move out [to Colchester] I can get bar work because I can get home, but until then I cannot because I can't get home at all Clacton is screwed for work opportunities unless you can drive really, but I can't afford a car until I'm working...

Never ending circle of events that gets tiring. Can't work without qualies but can't get qualies without working; can't work unless you can use your own vehicle but can't get a car unless you're working; can't work without experence but can't get experience without working and so on and so forth.

I knew there were reasons why I left this place It's depressing, just want to get out, work with kids and settle down, why is that so difficult?!