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.

I'm sorry,Im in an arsey mood.My main point was that childcarers are shockingly underpaid,I think I need to leave this thread,apologies..

Not to mention:

MavisEnderby Sun 26-Jun-11 21:25:58
So do you all REALLY think£5 is too much to look after and nurture your child?To me this is the saddest thing?Surely a child is the most important thing to be looked after in your life?

Numberfour Sun 26-Jun-11 21:25:20
OP, the answer is simple: if you resent paying a Cm then don't bloody do it. Get an au pair or nanny or nursery or stay at home.
Simple. there is no law saying you have to use a CM. take it or leave it.
in fact, NO ONE needs to use a CM. easy peasy and all that!

And the cream of the crop...

goinnowhere Sun 26-Jun-11 20:19:59
I do realise all those things. It's just that a side result of schools is incredibly cheap childcare and people don't want to pay for that either. I think this thread highlights just how poorly many of the people who look after and educate our children are viewed by so many.

The OP, and others agreeing with her, are not saying that CMs aren't worth paying well. They're saying that they can't afford to pay them well. There's a huge difference.

And to those people saying that if you can't afford childcare you should just not work then... well, easy enough if you don't need food on your table. You don't have to be earning much to fall outside earning tax credits, especially now they've changed the thresholds.

Ilovedora4, I appreciate that. Of course the £5 an hour is regionally determined, too. The other options are nursery, shared care etc. There are other options. I am not saying that they are easy options.

I really am fed up with people denigrating childminders. Yes I am one, too.

Annie,so where does that leave everyone? The fact remains that you can't expect the CM to work for very little money, looking after other peoples children , so their parents can make money (even if that money is for essentials rather than luxuries). The CM has the same living costs and needs to earn a real wage too. If they can't make that from CM, then they will stop being a CM and then the parents have even less choice.

Good point, Karma. Good name, too.

what karma said
what people can afford isn't relevant - the fee is the fee

I think this is a bit of irrelevant argument as most Cms do charge 3 to 3.50 pound an hour at the most. I have never seen one charge a fiver an hour and thats from living in 3 areas of the country down South. Might be different in London and some very expensive areas but overall its not likely to happen most places.

I am in Woking, Surrey and charge £5.30. Many CMs around here charge about 5 to 6 per hour here.

mine charges £5.50 for a pick or a drop off (to school.) If they have your child for over an hour after school they charge more. I think that's good value. They provide snacks, playthings, take to the park etc.

I couldn't afford a CM, even with the help from tax credits tbh.

CM's in my area charge £6 an hr, and I don't begrudge them a penny of it, but I was earning £200 a week net, for a full time job.
The CM would've cost me £255 a week (42.5 hrs inc travelling to and from my place of work). Tax credits would've paid £122.50 a week of my CM fees, so I'd have to find £132.50 a week out of my wages.
It was a no brainer.

Well, I think most CM do make enough to live on although I admit I only know a small number. However they all look after about three children and another after school, so probably about £18 per hour overall. Yes, they have extra heating and so on, but also no real travel expenses. They all also have a fairly high earning DP so have never been reliant on CM as the main wage. For people like this I think it is hard work but financially worth it. For a sole wage earner, it would be a less useful option maybe?

My childminder was only able to take holidays around school terms (like teachers) so very expensive. Things like that add up.

I can be good money especially if you have a DP who earns well. My DH is a full time student.

I disagree about there being 'no real travel expenses'. All the childminders I know take the kids out nearly every day and as you probably know, fuel costs are rather high atm. Plus parking, plus needing to upgrade to a 7+ seater.

CQrrrnee - what people can afford is entirely relevant. If working parents can't afford the childminder's fee she won't get any business. How can you say it's not relevant. Working isn't a luxury you can just do without because the associated expenses are too high.

karmabeliever - well, two quick fixes IMO are for all childcare to be tax-deductible, and for less EYFS crap for pre-schoolers.

If I pay tax on my salary, and then my childcare provider pays tax on what I pay them, the government is getting more money from my salary than I end up with. And if CMs and nurseries didn't have to spend so much time and energy on stupid EYFS stuff that at-home pre-schoolers aren't subject too, they would have more time to actually look after children and less unpaid paperwork time.

Agree about the EYFS stuff. Not necessary for very young children. You just want them loved and hugged and happy

of course it's relevant - childminders aren't providing a charity.

Only very locally usually. Half a mile or so. Certainly they can have some control over those things. A thirty mile commute is far more expensive.

I pay my cleaner £10 an hour which is the going rate. I would hardly pay someone less than that to look after my child which I tend to think is a little more important than dusting

Your cleaner can only clean for you at one time though. Plus, you presumably don't pay your cleaner for maybe 25hrs a week. Imagine if all the jobs people did which involving serving many people at once were paid at NMW per person....bus drivers, teachers, castle tour guides, someone in the chorus in the theatre. It doesn't work that way, although it might be nice.; CM should be paid a decent wage, but that wage comes jointly from all the families together.

"They all also have a fairly high earning DP so have never been reliant on CM as the main wage. " that is not true, goinnowhere. Your generalisation is a crock of shit.

Mavis, I am in an arsey mood too.

Goinnowhere: again - EYFS is compulsory for all early years childcare providers unless they are exempt.

I said that was the case with the ones I know, so go elsewhere with your "crock of shit" I also said it would be tough to make a good living as the sole wage.

I know it is. I don't think it should be.