to wonder how anyone pays for holiday childcare with more than one child and no family help nearby???

[ssd]

i can't believe anyone except maybe lawyers or other proffessionals can actually afford to work during the summer when the have MORE than one child and NO free childcare in the form of granny etc.

this issue prevents me from working in any sort of decent job, instead of a crap paid term time only job ( i have 2 kids and no free regular childcare)

how on earth do people in my situation do it?

i managed it without any help with childcare. i determindly focussed on the fact that there were 2 of us earning. as my older 2 also went to nursery i suppose i had a different perspective on it- i was only paying for 13 weeks instead of 52!

i do know what you mean though- and as they got older it got harder- not finacially but actually finding a scheme that they would do (not sporty).

i think that i paid about £110 per week each for 4 weeks of the summer term, so £880 out of take home pay for that month. if i had looked at the amount i had left i wouldnt have done it, but i looked at our overall income over the year,

i feel your pain. my eldest dd will be looking after youngest this holiday for £20 a day.

Uhm....please dont assume,grandparents want to pprovide you with free childcare,we have our own lives to get along with.We have already done the bringing up children bit,but then some grandparents enjoy it.

no one is assuming that fallon8

Its 9 weeks holidays here in NI - so count yourself lucky!
Usually I try to book mine into council run schemes which are the cheapest at £50/week - and the most expensive ones are around £100 each per week.

This year I am paying my neice to look after them from 9-4pm in our house, take them to trips, park, etc for July. This is only the first week, so we will see how we get on.

August, we might be able to get a holiday and then I will manage working from home, or taking turns with DH to supervise at home.

Its really hard and some of the camps are rubbish hours, like 12-2.30pm each day, or 10-3pm

My DS is 11 now, and doesnt want to go to any of the camps, but DD who is only 7 still likes plenty of activities and things to do.

You have to look at the cost of the school holidays (ie holiday summer schemes) as being a cost over the whole year. So when comparing a "decent job" with a term time job you need to look at the cost of holiday childcare when comparing the salaries.

Plus you are entitled to take unpaid parental leave in any job if you have a child under 5. Even if you are not entitled it might still be possible.

Another possibility is to find a temporary au-pair. This can work well if you work part time as in return for somewhere to stay and some days off to do sightseeing they can look after the DC on other days. Obviously this would depend on where you live and where you had space.

I have 10 weeks to cover(only 20 days in all) - dd is still in day nursery on my office days so for ds I will take a few days off, exdp will take a few days off and dh will take a few days off for ds, supercamps another 4 days then swap with fellow pt workers at school for another few and we are through.

If I worked ft out of the house it would be an issue but I have a more poorly paid job purely because it enables me to wfh 2 days a week on a permanent basis making it affordable.

Aquafun- that is my point exactly! If you are working when your children are pre schoolers,you are paying full rates all day for pretty much 52 weeks a year . 50 in my case as the nursery was closed for 2 weeks. If you're lucky, you may find a childminder willing to accept half pay for the times you are on holiday yourself and your child isn't actually going. Therefore, when your children start school, you are looking at it from the perspective of having more money left in your 'pocket. If you don't work when your children are pre school, you come at it from a totally different perspective as you have never paid childcare.

I'm a single parent with 2 dc aged 6&9
I've saved up my childcare vouchers and had to pay for holiday clubs
It's been expensive
I'm about to set up my own business so not sure how I'm going to afford it now, I may get tax credits to help, but yrs it's a nightmare

The holiday club my ds goes to offer a BOGOF deal. So you pay for one child for a whole week and you get another child for free but it does have to be the same week and booked at the same time. I think they only offer it if you book the whole week though.

I only have one child, but I get no family help and I'm a lone parent. I have used a mixture of, unpaid leave, working overtime in term time and taking time off in lieu, using holiday etc etc.

You do need to calculate the cost as an annual thing and average it out per week. For example I am paying £500 for the summer, which is a heck of a lot for 12 days child care. But it works out as £1.37 a day. So if I put £10 a week aside for child care I will have enough to pay for the summer.

Another common mistake is to think of the childcare as the mum's resposibility. My sister does this and moans about what a huge chunk of her part time salary it is. Never mind that her dh works full time and overtime on a pretty decent salary.
If you are in a couple you should both be paying towards the childcare out of your combined salaries. It might not seem so bad if you look at it as a percentage of your total family income...

ssd I just saw your post that says your boss is inflexible. Surely the most obvious answer, given that you are trying t oget out of your low paid job, is to find anotehr job witha more flexible boss.

There are companies out there who will be flexible. I used to work work part time and now work full tim but term time only (although I do still have to go in for a couple of week in the summer). I work for an accounting firm.
On my floor alone we have a lady (with grown up dc) who works a half day on two days and full days the other three, and another lady (no dc's) who works 3 days a week, and a guy (who's a granddad now but used to be a lone parent) and he works 3 days a week.

There are flexible jobs and companies out there. I know they're not everywhere but I've found that if you ask you may just get. What do you have to loose....

Presumably summer clubs for school age kids are far cheaper than nursey fees? And agree you can budget all year for them as you know they're coming up?

SSD - do try and ask for help! I'm a SAHM at the moment so don't have this problem but I usually have at least one of my children's friends for at least a week during the holidays while their parents are working. I already have 4 DCs so a couple more don't make any difference and my kids really enjoy having them around (and fight less with each other!). It means that then I can ask for the odd bit of babysitting etc. during term time without feeling guilty.
I know it's hard to ask but most people really wouldn't mind. Give it a go and good luck!

you're right mother, but I've been let down a few times asking for friends help then when the time comes they can;t actually help out......because I've no back up I've got no one to fall back on, this is why I'm reluctane asking for too much help, i can get adhoc help here and there but not on a regular basis