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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

How do u get a job with children with low wages and high Childcare???

49 replies

Fizzybee · 16/04/2012 14:23

After being made redundant going to college and having ds2 I'm trying to find a job not least as dps hours have been cut and were skint

So I am being offered jobs at an average 6.50/7 an hour

However Childcare is 4 p/h and after school club is £8 per day (thats not Inc holidays for dd1 which I dread to imagine !)

Meaning in an 8 hour day full time I'm working for £12 a day , £60 a week

Oh and I'm losing my £75 a week tax credits meaning I'm £15 a week worse of working

Part time isn't any better were entitled to no other benefits I've checked all the calculators etc...

How the hell is that an incentive to work? seriously how does anyone get a job when they have children??

OP posts:

diabolo · 16/04/2012 19:55

Admin or TA in a school?

I work 25 hpw, always available to drop off / pick up DS and obviously get the school holidays off too.

£8 ish an hour, works out OK, if you can work 32 hpw then even better and no childcare costs (as long as your DC's are school age)

Original poster

Fizzybee · 16/04/2012 19:56

Many replies!
Well id live a Jin to fit in with school holidays or in a college but these jobs are very hard to come by and I have been rejected from 3 different school admin jobs in the last year

Dc are 1 and 6

And no it seems tax credits stop if I start work It used to be different as I did get Childcare help with dc 1 so I think it must be as a result of the changes possibly?

I cant work around dh as he spends random weeks away works evenings , different days etc... There's no predictability for a job to fit round him, he is applying for better paid jobs as is everyone else in the uk unfortunately.

I'd love to start my own buissness but I have admin/ pc based skills so not really sure what thatd be relevant to? I have an degree as it happens so that's another consideration as I have a student loan to repay when I start earning more than 15000 I belive

OP posts:

Original poster

Fizzybee · 16/04/2012 19:56

No he's earning about £19000 a year jot a high earner

OP posts:

swallowedAfly · 16/04/2012 19:59

then are you sure about your tax credits assumptions? might be worth checking again. though to be honest if you were to earn even 15k with a combined income of 34k it would surely be manageable and you would clearly be better off - just not as better off as you would like to be which is hardly surprising with 2 children one of whom is 1.

Original poster

Fizzybee · 16/04/2012 20:15

Ok checked again on the official website I'd be 60 a month better off working

OP posts:

callmemrs · 16/04/2012 20:17

I agree- if you combine your full time income with the 19k earned by your dh, then I don't see how you can possibly say you can't afford to work. In your op you actually seem to acknowledge that you'd be £60 a week better off- well that's £240 per month. It might be that when you hit a month with a lot of school holiday like August, then you lose out, but you'll still be better off over the whole year. Also- remember you and your dh will be entitled to at least the minimum annual leave which if you stagger it will cover a lot of school holiday anyway.

Then when your youngest turns 3, you'll get 15 hours a week free care too

I accept that you wont get to keep as much of your earnings as you'd like- but that's a different issue. You certainly should be able to afford to work

callmemrs · 16/04/2012 20:19

Cross posts there! £60 a month is better than nothing (which many mums work for short term)

Look on it as an investment. You might be desperate for work when your youngest is in school, and it might be hard to get back into the workplace if you've not worked for ages

Original poster

Fizzybee · 16/04/2012 20:20

Hang on just released 60 doesn't include paying out for holiday schemes !

OP posts:

gamerwidow · 16/04/2012 20:30

OP it is very hard and a lot of people I know cannot afford to work. Unless you are lucky enough to earn more than minimum wage it just does not pay to work once childcare is taken into account especially if you have more than one child.

We are having to limit our family to one child as we would not be able to make enough money to cover childcare for two which is sad as it isn't what DH and I planned.

It is absolutely right that childcare providers are paid a good wage and I don't begrudge them that, but I do think the government should subsidise childcare because it is crippling for some.

KateSpade · 16/04/2012 20:36

Reading this thread with Interest,

Whilst I'm okay for money now, as i live with my parents who support me and i have no bills to pay. Once i graduate i know that financially i'll be better off Going on the dole. It's a sad fact, one which makes me incredibly depressed.

I work now on an Internship which isn't paid and have family child care, but I'm not sure that will be appropriate when my DD is older, as she's 6MO now.

I honestly Can't believe it! It's an awful shocking fact of life when you've got children, and for me not working isn't an Option.

twentyten · 16/04/2012 20:40

How about being a virtual assistant working from home?

swallowedAfly · 17/04/2012 09:22

you won't be better off 'on the dole' that just isn't true. i wish people wouldn't promote this idea. if you were earning a low enough wage that it left you with less than the dole it would be topped up with working tax credits, hb, etc.

hardboiledpossum · 17/04/2012 10:30

blapbird My experience of working in day nurseries was the same. I have worked in lots and not one of them would I send my children to. Pre-school nurseries that start at 2 seem to have much better staff and I would use one of them, but only after I'd gone undercover as agency staff to check them out first!

It's a bit of a non issue for me anyway as the cheapest childcare around my area is £340 per week and I'd be making a £70 loss a month after childcare without factoring in travel costs.

Original poster

Fizzybee · 17/04/2012 10:42

I think some people are generally ignorant of this problem, glad there are others in the same boat!

OP posts:

peskimo · 17/04/2012 10:42

I work on a 'relief' basis (in social care, £7 p/h) since I returned after mat leave. where my job will call me to cover a shift at short notice. This is the only way I can work and I can only do this by careful arrangement with DP. I've only been able to work 7 hours this month and I regularly have to turn down shifts offered cos DP can't get out of work.

I couldn't do a contract as the job is specific to peoples needs (and their costs!) and shifts are quite random.

Its a terrible juggle so it is.

IvantaOuiOui · 17/04/2012 12:06

If you are interested in childminding, it might be worth seeing if the council have an induction evening coming up. I struggled to find a job around my kids as my youngest has ASD and I really didn't think he would cope with childcare after a day at school. I'm now a childminder and I love it, I can fit the hours in around my kids, say no if I don't want to take someone on and get to be with my family too. There is a lot of paperwork and training but if you can get a few regulars it's worth it.

JugglingWithTangentialOranges · 17/04/2012 14:38

Back later to join in .... (marking place)

wigglesrock · 17/04/2012 14:57

I couldn't do it without the help of my mil and my Mum. My husband works shifts so I can't work evenings or weekend nights or through the night.

I have a 6, 4 and 1 year old. I have a job cleaning - I work 19 hours a week, three 5 hour shifts and a night-time 4 hour shift. My hours are within dd1 and dd2 school/nursery school hours and my parents in law and my mum take the baby on the days that both my husband and I work. Its great that I have family to help and I am so grateful that we do - I'd be screwed without them.

blapbird · 17/04/2012 20:03

hardboiledpossum I know I think I'd have to do the same too, if I wanted to send my child to a nursery but I must admit, I would't unless it was a last resort, nappy changing time time on conveyor belts, children being shouted at and more bitching than the school playground.

ceeveebee · 17/04/2012 21:43

I'm just starting to look into child care options as due back at work in October,we have 5mo twins. The only nursery within walking distance of our house charges £85 per day per child with a 10% twin discount.
So if I went back full time it would cost £42,000 per year from our after tax salaries!!

pingu2209 · 17/04/2012 21:58

My dh earns a good wage. He is a higher rate tax payer and other than child benefit (which next year will not apply) we get no help. His income covers our living costs (mortgage, council tax, food etc). We don't live hand to mouth but we don't have a load of frilly extras either.

The cost of living/housing in the South East means there is no more money for extras.

Commuting to work costs £4k (out of his net salary) a year. We cut back to 1 car because we just couldn't afford a 2nd car. My husband drives a scooter to the station because the cost of parking is £5/day. We don't have foreign holidays - although we do get 1 week in a caravan in Cornwall.

I want to work to bring in additional income to enable us to be able to have day's out, meals out, a foreign holiday perhaps etc. My wage needs to cover the childcare costs because there is no room for my dh wage to cover thoses costs.

We have 3 children - the childcare is £60/day in term time and £75/day in holidays. I also have the cost of commuting. I need to earn an absolute minimum of £25k to have about £300/month left over max.

£25k is not a bad wage but the stress of full time work with 3 children and a dh who commutes into London over 1.5 hours each way - I wonder whether £300/month is worth it.

pingu2209 · 17/04/2012 21:59

Wanted to point out:

I don't think we should get more help from the state.
Parking a scooter at the station is free.
I know 1 week in Cornwall is a darn sight better than many.

swallowedAfly · 19/04/2012 10:46

pingu i think those postscript clarifications will have saved you a lot of time countering accusations of having said those things

Fluffy1234 · 19/04/2012 11:08

Although I was am a graduate I did care work a few evenings a week when my children were younger. That worked well, £9 an hour during the week and £13 an hour at the weekend. I then used some of the wages to put my younger son in private nursery ( older one in reception) for a few mornings a week to get a bit of a rest or get jobs done after the previous evenings work. I find I had no worries if they were ill or on school holidays etc. Plus did a few Bank holidays at double or treble pay and ten had extra money for days out.

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