To wonder how people actually afford childcare

[roweeena]

So I should of thought of this before I got pregnant but I have a 3 month & 27 month old. Thinking of going back to work in Sept when they will be just shy of 1 & 3.

Contacted nursery under my work - 2 days a week for the both of them will cost £1020 per month!!! Dread to think how much full time would cost.

I was full time before and DS was in with a childminder but we have moved now and this nursery seemed so handy. Just going back 2 days a week now and going to have to also work one weekend day. Just can't afford to go back to work for more than that.

We have no family close by who can help out. Both myself & my husband are in quite reasonable jobs (in fact in my job people always assume I must be loaded - media reporting). Just wondering how other people actually afford childcare for two.

Ps I know DS1 will qualify for free 15hrs from the Jan but it doesn't seem to make that much difference as its only term time & 3 hrs a day (pretty useless for working mums)

I agree with blondes.

Childminders here range between £5 - £7+ per child, per hour.

My nanny works out at around £11 per hour gross. It's actually a less costly option than a Childminder, but as my DC are older, the flexibility and the options for the children also suit our family better than a CM. You have to be able to offer the nanny a substantial amount of hours though, as usually its their main job (although some do nanny-shares).

You can't get away from the fact though - you have to have a pretty substantial family income to be able to afford childcare (certainly in the South East).

It's a real problem - if you are in a lower paid role, there is the real likelihood that you just can't work because you can't afford it, especially if you are not a two-income family.

We lose some valuable talent in this country because of that.

I could have 2 in childminders for 6 quid an hour. They are only about 3 an hour with food here.

omfg annie thats so cheap, can i ask what area you are in?

Im down South but not near London. Its same price in midlands though. I think something like 67% of mums work so thats 1000s of kids being brought up in childcare so it is cheaper most places. Its crazy that its so expensive in London.

I'm in London. The nearest childminder I know charges £9.60 an hr. she has a waiting list

Artandco... wow - that really is a lot for a child minder. I can justify paying XYZ for our nanny because she is working solely for me, can adhere to my schedule, and can actually take a fair bit of the pressure away from me whilst I work (children's laundry, homework, projects, friends for tea, club runs etc.).

£9.60 per hour for a CM is the top rate I've heard so far.. she must be doing very well, especially as that is per child and her ratios would allow her to look after multiples. (good luck to her, I hope she's good for that rate!).

Bloody hell, where? When I was in balham it was only £6ph, and that was only a year ago!

She's around Gloucester road

OP YANBU

But I hate to warn you that at least you can usually find childcare for children before they start school. I wasn't prepared for a complete lack or before or after school care. Where I work most woman are full time while their kids are 3 months to 4 years but as soon as they start school, wham bam they have to go part time because getting to work at 9:20 and leaving at 2:50 isn't a full day in anyone's books.

All of a sudden private schooling makes sense - If you've paid for nursery it probably costs the same ?

But who can afford the costs for two ?

£9.60 sounds about right - only slightly more expensive than the $10-12 the childminders in inner Sydney charge. What makes it even harder is that they are limited by ratio requirements to only something like 3 children if they are under three. They can take on more older children. Because there is so much demand/so little supply (as childminders tend to be more flexible than centers), many are just refusing to take on babies and toddlers because of the ratio requirements. This is the age group which needs that one on one family type care the most though . A nanny costs approximately $200 a day.

Not managed to read the whole thread, but ...

We have no free childcare. We have arranged flexible working (compressed hours, weekday off) so that DD is only in nursery 3 days a week. We have a HH income of £42k but live in a city where the cost of living (housing) is expensive. We waited until DD was 3 before conceiving DC2, who is due in the summer. That way we won't have 2 in nursery at the same time. There's no way we could have afforded that. There will be just a few months when there is a crossover but we're saving extra on our childcare vouchers (which are a big help) to pay for that.

I remind myself that it's not forever, that these years are the most expensive (surely??). It would be nice to have a holiday, but we can't afford it. We just accept that we're making sacrifices.

I do sometimes wonder where our money went before having a child though - why were we not on exotic holidays every other month??

My childcare is £250 per week for my DS. I want to cry every time I pay her! But as a single mum I don't have much option but to work FT.

I thought paying for 2 at nursery was bad (we were exceeding our income paying for that) but it was only for 9 months, mercifully. However, paying for after school care/school holiday care is turnin out to be crippling too. Thank goodness there is a parental leave option so at least we can do some of it, but of course it's unpaid so hardly an easy option financially. And it expires after children are 5 so not much use once the last child hits that milestone. Childcare is a nightmare, but I don't want to e forced out of the workplace and in any case, we can't actually afford to live on only 1 income, especially when job security is non existent.