Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Original poster

to think that this country needs to improve wraparound care for school age children

193 replies

PontOffelPock · 13/03/2014 21:51

There is rightly a lot of focus at the moment on the cost of pre-school childcare.

However, for us at least, the real killer has been the lack of decent, affordable wrap around care for school-age DCs. Its nigh on impossible to find an available childminder near our school to do the pick-ups, there is no breakfast/after-school club, and we both have an hour commute, so we are increasingly reliant on family. The holiday club we enrolled our DCs in is very expensive. I wonder how on earth other parents who both work full time (and one parent isn't a teacher) manage when school hours are 9-3 plus all the holidays.

AIBU to think that this needs some focus so that parents are able to work full-time if they need to?

OP posts:

KatyMac · 15/03/2014 14:00

I childmind/run a small nursery & I used to run a before/after & holiday club

Then the local children's centre opened and charged less than £1 an hour
Then they closed

I offer before/after & holiday care for school age children - but half heartedly as no-one can afford what I charge. I looked into premises & setting up properly but initial investigations found not many people wanted a 5.5hour a day split shift job (7-9 & 3-6:30) and those that would apply for it were only doing so they could care for their own children while at work.

It would make far more sense to look at taxation (paying for care out of pre-tax earnings or having a floating tax code so it can be assigned to either parent) mandatory family friendly working (cap all jobs at 30/35 hours) or come up with creative and unusual solutions toa problem that will only increase

manchestermummy · 15/03/2014 14:05

Good God. I read some of these posts and think I am wrong about it being 2014; it's actually 1958.

Because then it would make perfect sense for some of you told opine that children in after school club are emotionally damaged, that their parents should wait to buy their forever home, and that ultimately, a mortgage requiring two incomes is Wrong.

Of course, none of you have said that, outright. But that's what you mean.

FWIW, my DD1 loves after school club. That she is happy makes our lives easier. That we live in a nice home in a nice area and for which we have worked our bollocks off to buy ( sensible purchase 11 years ago plus overpaying our previous mortgage) is something that we think is rather okay.

Ticklefeet · 15/03/2014 17:10

I live next door to the school so I could watch children before and after. It would be a commitment, but I would do it for the right money. How much would you pay me?

PortofinoRevisited · 15/03/2014 17:55

My Belgian school is open 7.30 til 6.00. It costs 2 euros per day. Holiday club is about 40 euros a week including lunch and is held at the local sports centre. This also tax deductible. As a working parent it is fabulous and dd is more than happy to stay and play with her friends for an hour or so after school.

rookiemater · 15/03/2014 17:59

Ticklefeet - I'm unsure about the point of your question. Check the going rate for local childminders, that's what you'd earn per child, provided you register and follow the legislations.

Ticklefeet · 15/03/2014 18:12

Rookie, I wondered in reality what people are willing to pay.

BingoWingsBeGone · 15/03/2014 18:24

Tickle I pay £20 for 1.5hrs for someone to come to my house and drop 2dc at (same) school. It is 2hrs if her time and she uses petrol to get to us then school.

After school I pay £8 per DC for 1.75 hours.

A cm round here is c. £3.75-£4 per hour (except there aren't any who serve our school.

lessthanBeau · 15/03/2014 18:33

in the 80s when there was no after school care, we had teenage babysitters, happy to earn a bit of pocket money to sit with the dc for a couple of hours until the parents got home, I was a looked after child as well as a sitter, but no one would ever consider this now.

almaradlu · 15/03/2014 19:17

I am a childminder(12 1/2 yrs) and for the past 2 1/2 years have provided care just for school age children. Due to our school having a free breakfast club I have not had any breakfast children for just under 2 years.

Our school also has a holiday club(£16 per day) and an afterschool club(£2 per hour) as well which is way cheaper than what I charge but by the time I provide food, activites (crafts, games etc) also I take the children out in the holidays for no extra fees as its my choice to provide these outings, if I was to charge the same as our school club I would be working for no wage.

There are also several childminders and day nurseries that also collect from the same school. I think last time I checked there were around 16 childcare providers listed for our school.

I am keeping my fees just below a lot of the other providers but even though I have had brilliant references from past families, also regular positive feedback from current families , I am finding it really hard to fill my places.

So around here we have plenty of choice regarding wrap around care.

wobblyweebles · 15/03/2014 20:21

Not getting mixed up at all, Oscar, the cost of living here, not just London, is far steeper than N. America, not just housing but basics like electricity, power, gas, water, council tax and transport.

Actually I have found that utilities and council tax are far more expensive in N America than in the UK.

I pay $7000 a year in the equivalent of council tax, my oil bill is around $5-6000 a year, my electricity is around $2500 a year. My house was somewhat cheaper to buy than the equivalent would have been in the UK, but nothing about running it is cheaper.

We don't have any public transport, and car insurance is more expensive than the UK.

Petrol is cheaper, but that's about all.

wobblyweebles · 15/03/2014 20:22

And again, renting here is very expensive and dominated by six-month leases an unregulated letting a industry and individual landlords on the margins of viability, leading many, many people to 'mortgage them,selves to the hilt' in order to avoid rentals

This is also true of much of the US.

mumandboys123 · 15/03/2014 20:45

_Iwonder how on earth other parents who both work full time (and one parent isn't a teacher) manage when school hours are 9-3 plus all the holidays

Teachers need childcare just as much as anyone else. I teach - my children are in breakfast club and afterschool club everyday.

SirChenjin · 15/03/2014 21:29

That's interesting wobbly - this price comparison site shows Canadians pay 10c/kWh as opposed to the UK where we pay 20c. My understanding (from speaking to my friends in British Columbia) is that the equivalent of our council tax is calculated on the size of your house but is proportionately less than we pay for our CT.

Mutley77 · 15/03/2014 23:33

Ah have come back to the thread and at least it is not so one sided

sirchenjin sorry my point was missed as I was being a little tongue in cheek. My oldest is 9 and up until a year ago I was a "highly competent and organised wohp". However I gave up work temporarily and have now decided I won't go back for the time being as, on reflection, I can see I am far better able to meet the needs of my dc than the very high quality childcare they were in while I was working. Both my dc and I are completely able to do ten hour days but actually we prefer not to!!

As I say, lucky for me to have experienced both and have the choice. When I do return to work again I will be able to work flexibly and not have my dc in full time group care.

Your after school club does sound great, I've never seen one with a ratio of 1 to 3. I'm guessing it stops at age 8 though?

SirChenjin · 15/03/2014 23:46

My DCs after school club doesn't have a ratio of 1:3

That's great your decision has worked out for you - and I'm glad that you've experienced both sides so that you know you can accomplish the organising that's required for combining childcare and work. I would hate to think you truly believed you couldn't - very limiting. I feel very lucky not to have to have given up work completely to look after my DCs and that they are very happy in the after school care they're in. A good work/life balance is what I've always strived for, and I have that through a mixture of contracts and permanent work. Oh - and fantastic childcare that enables to work outside the home, work flexibly some of the time at home, and children who enjoy their time away from the home. That's great you'll have that too - the best of both worlds, absolutely.

wobblyweebles · 16/03/2014 00:52

That's interesting wobbly - this price comparison site shows Canadians pay 10c/kWh as opposed to the UK where we pay 20c. My understanding (from speaking to my friends in British Columbia) is that the equivalent of our council tax is calculated on the size of your house but is proportionately less than we pay for our CT.

I'm US, not Canada, and I wish I was paying 10c or even 12c per kWh! Mine is more like your 20c - although to be fair I pay slightly higher because I choose to buy hydro-electric rather than coal generated.

Our property tax is also calculated on value of house. The mil rate is 20c per $1000 value in my town, and my house is valued at $350,000 so I pay $7000. I would be paying about half that for a similar value house in my last town in the UK.

Mimishimi · 16/03/2014 07:29

^Well I have to say that I think that all of us should simply look after each other's kids as it was in my youth. There is nothing wrong with asking your mate to pick up your kids all week if they are going anyway?

You could then return the favour by babysitting or looking after their kids?

I really don't get this. Why can't we ask this of each other?^

I think it's because the favour is only intermittently reciprocated, if ever, I've found. Initially they are but then the parents start getting cheeky. Also, it's assuming that parents at home/working part-time just go home with their kids and just stay there. That's rarely the case. Only on Friday afternoons do I have any time that is not taken up with extra activities like dance classes, speech therapy, sports or grocery shopping (don't do during day). The thought of dragging another child along to these fills me with dread, as it is I find it hard to get my own two organised and out the door.

WRT the term time care, it's probably because their own children mean the Ofsted/other official body's mandated requirements are exceeded? Obviously they can't get their own children to go elsewhere for the holidays.

rollonthesummer · 16/03/2014 12:51

Where two families work part time, this could work well. When it's one family where both parents work full-time (needing before/after school care) who are relying on another family (often a sahm) who they see as just doing the school run anyway-and expecting her to ferry their children to and fro without payment, to facilitate their second wage, it's a piss take.

I've seen people post on here quite a few times in exactly that situation. SAH parents make a decision based on their needs, they don't usually do it so they can regularly be used as free childcare so others can get paid.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8