to think £5 an hour for a childminder in the suburbs is a bit steep?

[HidinginaHardHat]

We were interviewing several childminders today and the average price was around £5 per hour, i'm more used to paying around £3 an hour.

I appreciate they have to earn a living like the rest of us but when their hourly rate is nearly the same as mine is that really fair?

I probably am BU really aren't I.

No I don't do the EARLY YEARS foundation stage for school age children MrsKravitz. We do contribute to their school learning diaries if they are reception thought this is minimal amount.

Much of the paperwork is done by the NCMA going by past CM's so again minimum effort on the minders part.

The NCMA do fuck all except charge a silly amount to join their 'club'. On my Childminding Network we are not allowed to copy other policies, they have to be personal.

Emotional blackmail will not work with me.

I am unbelievably picky in my childcare provision. I have had no qualms in reporting minders i have interviewed to Ofsted on several occasions, and I have made a VERY poor judgment call once with a minder whose diabolical care landed my DC in hospital. As i previously mentioned some minders are not even fit to be parents.

I really do wish I had the choice of take it or leave it but some of us do not have the luxury of being able to be stay at home parents and require two incomes into the household. It really is that black and white. Childcare is a necessary evil in my life.

Oh and I should add the aforementioned childminder had the highest hourly rate i've paid for.

Really purple? Thats not what i've been led to believe. Perhaps i have been misinformed.

Sorry Im a bit skeptical about this constant paperwork. Mine used one policy booklet for all of us and there were no medical assessments. Never ever saw any learning diaries or any files anywhere. Another one I went to see alos had one policy book. I know this because she had lent it to someone the day i went to see it.

Yes, thanks, GwendolineMaryLacey, I read it. I was refereeing to posts like this:

ILoveTIFFANY Sun 26-Jun-11 18:31:28
So you expect a cm to cut their rates to suit each parents salary then?
If you aren't getting tax credits why? Earn too much?
Yet scrimping over your child's care?

tazmin Sun 26-Jun-11 18:43:30
blimey, my child is my most treasured "possession"
if someone wanted to do it on the cheap, i would be very

nervatious Sun 26-Jun-11 18:45:51
Sounded like you resented the fact that they might take home more than you do. Which as Reality pointed out would most likely not be the case. The problem here is not what the CM gets but what you get, maybe you need a job that pays more?

OrdinaryJo Sun 26-Jun-11 19:18:30
I pay my cleaner £7ph and am that CM's charge so little! YABU.
(to which I say, BTW, my cleaner gets £80 per month off me, my childcare providers £1200. Do the maths)

TwistAndShout Sun 26-Jun-11 19:58:16
Can I just ask you hardhat, if you think it's so well paid and such a good little job, then why don't you do it? Then you won't have to pay anyone else to take care of yor DC!

And as for the suggestion that shedloads can be saved with vouchers, while you get £254 tax free, all that means is that you're saving 20% of £245. Which is £49 a month, x12 = £588. £1176 if both parents claim. Not much help on an annual bill of nearly £15 000.

Parents should be paying less, childcare providers should be paid more. Everyone is losing out.

I think you have although it's different in different areas. Our network is strict and demands Excellent quality care. We are one of the top Networks in the country apparently but I'm not entirely sure what this is 'judged' on.

If we cut an pasted th NCMA's policies we could get away without even reading them, let alone following them and that just wouldn't be good enough. I had to write all my own and I have to prove regularly that I am following them to the last dot. I also have to review them regularly and prove that I review them .

There are brilliant presidents and shit ones, brilliant window cleaners and shit ones, brilliant childminders - you get the picture.

What "will not work with me" is the lack of appreciation and understanding of what CMs (who are worth their salt) do. It really is a case of take it or leave it OP. Simple.

Just because you do your First Aid once every 3 yrs or policy updates annually does not make the role easy or justify low fees. There are a zillion factors playing a role in the fee that you are charged: wear and tear on home, long working hours, food and drinks, car and petrol, craft costs, etc.

Again: minimum wage is irrelevant. £5 per hour is a lot out of most people's salary to pay. I accept that 100%! BUT: if you begrudge it or cannot afford it then you (not aimed at OP personally but anyone in a bind about childcare) then rethink your options.

This year

MrsKravitz, legally we have to do this paperwork, and we have to share it with the parents. I am suprised your childminder didn't and would suggest she was crap. sorry.

Childminder's have to follow the exact same rules/regulations and documents (EYFS) as nurseries do, if your childminder isn't doing learning diaries for her early years children, then she is not doing her job properly and will not pass her Ofsted.

OK.sorry.my musings weren't personally directed at you,hard hat.I just think we live in a screwed up society where childcare isn't respected.I am very sorry about your dc landing up in hospital,that must've been crap.As you can imagine with a non verbal disabled dd I am also somewhat picky re childcare.

Ds is in year 1 though so I imagine there is no paperwork to be done on him anyway

It's not begrudging paying it or underappreciating the hardwork involved in looking after children. It's simple economics. The cost of living for EVERYONE is too high, childcare included. Factor in higher and higher childcare bills to just one other large expense like rail costs or petrol costs then you have a family that is near or on the breadline in one short step.

I would love to be able to pay more for childcare. But the point of childcare is that it is affordable enough for you to be able to work. Many places now are not.

I used to do a daily diary. Didn't show it to the parents though, as they were happy just to get a verbal account of the day. The paperwork I hated doing was the accounts and other tax forms. Also the forms you have to fill in if the child comes to you with so much as a scraped knee. It's very stressful having to log everything in order to protect yourself from any false allegations.

I found the ncma to be very helpful in advising me wrt protecting myself and all the financial stuff, which I'd had no experience of. Perhaps they vary from area to area.

Also I am not a SAHM,i am a working mum,albeit pt.I was a 2 parent working family until dp snuffed it last year.

Ofsted took over regulating childminding and day care in Sept 2001

It's tough isn't it mavis us parents really can't do right for doing wrong half the time!

I agree with you completely on that HidinginaHardHat but it's not the childcare providers at fault. I charge the least that I can afford to charge, while still earning a living.

why do you need policies for each, individual child altinkum?

A preschool only has generic policies and procedures.

Number4 - most people cant afford a fiver an hour and cant rethink their options.