To ask how much do you work for after childcare costs are deducted?

[MasterOfCaffeine]

Or what would be the absolute minimum? I'm a sahm with 4 kids and I've been thinking about returning to work. I've seen an ideal job advertised but when I pooled together the prospective salary with dhs and deducted the cost of childcare, we would only be €4k better off a year, which in effect means I would be working for €75 p/w. Along with this, we would also lose a preschool subsidy that we currently get for dd3 which would cost us €40 p/w.

I know in a few years, childcare costs will be less, and also getting a job now will increase my earning power in future. But I'm trying to decide if it's worth it for such a small amount.

I would get about £1700 after nursery fees.

Whwn I went back to work after having dc3 with 2 DC in full time childcare, I earnt £1500 a month (take home) and my childcare costs were £1450, so £50 a month. However, I now earn nearly 3 times that and I wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't gone back when they were little.

Also being a sahp is not something I am cut out to do.

Our childcare costs were pretty much my wage every month for years (nursery about £1,700 pm, wage £2,000) but I never had the £300 left to spend on anything as it would be gone on petrol, car parking for work, food.

DH wage paid all the other bills, mortgage, insurances, car tax for 1 etc. It was all just combined money between the 2 of us.

Children are now 4,6,8, I have worked full time the whole time and they only went to nursery for 12 months old.

I am now able to consult this last year and work when I feel like it rather than constantly full time. Youngest will start school in September then we might start to have money again.

I wouldn’t be able to consult though if I had been out of it for the last 7 years, it has been VERY tough but I am hoping it means we will both be around more now they are more aware and that we will start to have better finances.

Well, when my two DC were preschool, i worked 0.6 term-time only, and worked for about £900 after childcare, which i realise is more than you are saying.

Now, five or six years later, i work for £2400 after childcare, as costs have gone down and my (flexible, still term-time only) hours have gone up.