To wonder what percentage of your wage goes on childcare?

[Loopylala7]

My DC attends nursery 2 days a week, and soon DC2 will be joining them. I've worked out that it will cost us a 3rd of our combined wage, and thats before mortgage, water, electric, gas, council tax etc, etc, etc. We are not entitled to any working credits. Whilst this is pretty depressing, we realise we are lucky as we have the support of 2 sets of GPs who each look after our DC a day a week.

This got me thinking, what percent of a wage do you spend on childcare? I have some friends who practically loose their entire wage having to put their DC in for 4 or 5 days! seems crazy but unavoidable.

Wondering if there is the 'fuel poverty' equivalent - 'childcare poverty' and what what percentage would class you as being within the 'childcare poverty' band?

Mine would be double last year's wage but I am not in UK and have three under fives, and school finishes at 1.30 until they are 7. This is something I will have to accommodate that until 2020. After school even then will be 17000 a year for three, no national support for childcare or vouchers or tax credits etc. We were relocated here for Dh's work and I naively assumed it wouldn't be THAT different to the UK. I am looking at retraining to be able to do a job I can do at home in the evenings and on weekends.

0% yay! DH is a sahp but when he wasn't, his entire salary. They joys of shift work.

All of my salary and a bit more too in term time. Luckily I don't have to pay for the holidays. It keeps me sane though.

At one point it was more than I was earning.

Which sounds bonkers, but that stage was only for about 6 months when they were both at nursery and DS was a baby who were extra expensive. When DD went to school I felt rich :)

About a third of my income when I was working full time. For just one child and that was prorata term time only. Childcare is expensive but childminders don't earn much. Mine had to have 2.5 full time children just to bring in minimum wage for the hours she worked and she was only allowed 3 full timers.

A third of my income for me and I work full time and DS is two days at childminder and 3 days at nursery (they both cost the same).

80% of my net income but I felt it was worth it to keep my hand in. 18 months after going back after DD2 I have just been made redundant for my troubles

Sometimes I'm shocked at how much childcare costs! I'm an OFSTED registered outstanding degree qualified childminder and I charge £3 an hour!

All of my salary and couple hundred from dh's

Zero, I changed jobs after 23 years in the same job to avoid having to send ds to any childcare or shell out.

Best move..EVER. like a huge weight lifted.

Blimey! it really is a shocking amount. I mean I don't begrudge paying the nursery as I think they are fantastic and I know individually they don't earn a lot, it just seems a bit crazy making the effort to go back when so much of your earnings goes back into looking after the children you have to leave to go to work. It sounds like Norway has quite a sensible system.

Would anyone agree a percentage which would in theory send you into childcare poverty? I think between 25%-30% is quite excessive when you consider you do have to pay other bills too.

When DS goes into childcare when my maternity ends (for 2.5 days a week) it will cost us about 10% of our monthly take home pay.

We dn't pay anything as we have always been lucky enough to be able to work around each other, so I work eveneings/ weekends/ nights and dh wors 9-5. I say lucky but only in that it saves us money but in terms of lack of family time and total exhaustion it isn't great. We have 4 kids so it would have been virtually impossible to pay for childcare and continue working 9-5 hours.

Very little (about £500 a year). That's because I took a job of a lower grade and less hours to work around school hours.

What we do pay is to get us through school holidays as I don't have that much annual leave.

Previously we were paying 2/3rds of my salary on CM costs.

it would be 120% of my wage and about 38% of our combined income (for 2 children). Suffice to say i can't afford to go to work. If i did work - Mortgage would be about 25% (currently 33%). Fares would be 20% (currently 12%). Only leaving 15% for food, bills etc. Just not do-able at all :(