to think it is not worth working for £10 per day??!

[1percentawake]

I've just been offered a new job - wahey as I've been trying to get a job for ages!!

Until I sat down and worked out the childcare costs - OMG I would be paying out £50 per day as the local childminder charges over £4 per hour and extra after 5pm. Also charges for meals and pick up from preschool sessions.

On top of that I don't get mileage expenses and the job is 30 miles from home..

So I would be working for the grand total of £10 per day after tax!!

AIBU or is there no incentive to leave my child all day with someone else and go to work???

Well a lot of people are in this position

Sometimes you have to take a long term view that wrking and staying on the career ladder will pay off in the long term

It won't always be as you describe but it is very hard in the short term

It depends on whether it's a job you would really like. and if you can swallow the short term of only earning a pittance for the long term of earning more once DC gets childcare vouchers/is at school.

Lots of people work simply to pay for childcare to keep their jobs open.

Depends on the job, career prospects, pension....

Presumably you are already paying for some pre- school care, as you mention the cm picking up?

I worked for a couple of years and only broke even, but it was worth it for all the other advantages of working, apart from the immediate financial remuneration

Would you qualify for child tax credit? That can make quite a big difference. Also check whether the prospective employer (and childminder) does the childcare voucher scheme so you don't have to pay tax on money used for childcare.

Also I take it you have looked into all the different childcare options available? My DD goes to a nursery at the local surestart centre and it's only £37 per day, from 8-6pm. Don't know whether you would consider nursery but if so it's worth checking if there's a surestart near you.

£1o quid a day does work out at about £200 per month though. Not an amount to be sniffed at. And you will pay your NI, and maybe pension contributions. Plus you will be building on your career, giving you many more options in the future.

Depends on the prospects and other benefits you would get, and on whether you would enjoy it more than you would like not working.

Also depends on how much £10 a day would mean to you. £50 a week would be a pretty good bit of extra on some people;s budgets.

Yanbu It is a very hard situation and 30 miles out makes it even harder. Leaving Dc with someone else when your lifestyle will not gain anything as a compromise when you do have time together is difficult.

At the moment I work 2 days a week (school hours) after childcare and petrol etc are deducted I probably actually pocket £15 a day. However next year DD will be in full time school and I will keep every penny I earn so I figure my job with the hours I have might not come up again so it's worth treading water for this year IYSWIM

How much are you already paying for the pre school sessions? Because you could knock that off the 50 pound total really, as you're paying that already, while not working, so it wont be an extra. I'm guessing your child must be at least 2, to be attending pre school, so the other thing to factor in is how long until they go to school, as it will get cheaper then. If only a couple of years until your dc is in reception class, it's probably a wise move to take a job, as things could get even tougher and you may not be able to step back in later on

I wish I had worked for a tenner a day in hindsight, it's hard explaining a 5 year gap and nobody gives a shit that you were raising children, sometimes I'm tempted to say i was in prison because I suspect then I might get the job lol

Personally, I would rather work and earn £10 than not work at all. It's good to work and feel like you are doing something, if that makes sense.

Also, doesn't the cost of childcare come out of your's and your dp/dh's joint income - it's not just your responsibility/cost.

I know that the sums still add up the same, but it's so that both of your are on the career ladder/jobs market which isn't to be sniffed at these days and makes you both more marketable when the dc are older.

depends on the job, if its a career job then think longterm, eg will you eventually get paid more/will childcare be cheaper once DC at school.....if its stacking shelves in tesco etc then don't bother/

I wish I had £10 a day left in my wages after paying out. But, in the long term It will all work out for the best for me. It depends on the job I suppose.

Hmm - yes some interesting points and yes, it would come out of joint income but I'm just utterly shocked at how little I would be working for!

It would only be £10 per day 3 days a week so £30 per week.

The main thing is that I ultimately don't really want to leave my DD and go to work as especially if it doesn't even make financial sense to work. However in the back of my mind is the worry that there isn't much else out there and we do need the money...

free places for 3years + - taken that into account.

As already said, depends really on purpose of working. If working to earn a ton of money, then don't bother. If working to boost skills, confidence, interest, whatever reasons you might do it for you, then £50 a week is worth it, that is still £2,600 in a year, what could you do with that? holiday, towards a new car, new furniture, pay off any debts/over-pay on the mortgage/towards rent clothes beauty treatments -take-aways wine--

If you need £30 a week and it makes a difference to living v struggling then do it. If it doesn't and you want to be at home then don't.

I wouldn't do it personally, I would rather be at home with DD.

Exogenesis, actually that's a bloody good point!

I'm in a similar situation, and pg with #3 so it's about to got into the red for me to work - having to work out whether I 'pay' to work!!! - part and parcel of having three kids close together in age I suppose!

For me currently it's worth it for the job, for the DCs (they thrive with the social skills they develop at nursery), it's worth it for my mental state (using my brain again) and it's worth it then for my DCs (as I'm a much nicer mummy when I don't see them every second of the day). I enjoy my work but having to give next year much more thought...

OP - lots of good advice here. I went back to work part time when DC1 was 6mo old. On the plus side I've maintained a good job, and DC2 has just started full time school, so everything's much easier and I still have a job I enjoy and feel confident in because of no break.

But even still, in hindsight, I wish I'd had the courage to try and make the sums work and say, no, I want to be a SAHM longer. After all, many of us will be still working in our 60's long, long after our DC's have left home, so why not stay home with them now if your family finances can manage.

Neither is the easy option is it? Good luck.

i was working at a loss of £70/month at one point. you need to work out what tax credits you will be entitled to and also think long term, NI contributions and tax, and career prospects. also agree that £200 isn't to be sniffed at.

But you are now earning £30 per week after everything's been paid for, and you're wondering whether to earn £50? Is that right?

Will you need more clothes, occasional taxi, extra hour at cm, drinks/presents at work etc for this job? If so you will end up with almost nothing

If the new workplace does them you can take a salary sacrifice voucher upto £243 a month to pay the cm - you save paying tax and NI. Your DH can also.

I'm in this situation, working for basically nothing - however, when DCs are at school full time, I'll likely still be in my job and may even have enough experience to be going for promotion. There are very few jobs going that a few years of sacrifice might be worth it in the long run.

May not be the same situation for you though and I understand how demoralising it is working for next to nothing.