How much would you expect to pay for a child minder?

[blaisealex]

How much per hour would you expect to pay for a child minder? Would you expect to pay an additional fee for lunch too?

What would you expect from the minder? Activities, days out, walks, free play, crafts, etc. Would you also expect an update book every so often with photos etc, like a diary?

Not sure what you're being unreasonable about?

Fees will be calculated higher or lower to take into account paid hols/ lunch provided or not/special trips may be charged for.

£5/hour. I'd be happy to provide lunch or pay £2 or £3 per day.

I would expect a wide variety of activities, indoor and outdoor and group activities (even if this is meeting friends in the park).

I wouldn't expect an update book but it's a nice touch. I do like getting photos of what my child has been up to.

I pay my dog walker £10 an hour. The pay for childcare is atrocious.

I paid £4ph for mine (they also offered a sibling discount with the youngest at full price and older siblings at a reduction).

Included in that was all meals and drinks, all days out (mainly toddler groups/library rhyme time etc).

I supplied nappies and wipes (she had an emergency stash), plus all formula milk when needed.

We did a handover chat at the end of each day (eaten well, slept x hours, we went to x place today). Once in a while she would WhatsApp me pictures of what they were doing but not often (which I liked).

My CM did days out (park, local farmyard, etc), afternoons out in the garden, lots of crafts, lots of playtime and songs. They follow EYFS so there is some sort of framework but tbh I chose a CM because I wanted a "second home" feel so was equally happy that my DC was taken to Tue post office or to drop something round at CMs mums house on the odd day.

I expected my CM to have all the necessary insurances, first aid etc and would read their Ofsted inspections as well as doing some home visits before settling on them.

No-no for me were smoking at all, lots of TV time, and no dogs. But these were my own preferences and luckily I found someone great who matched what I wanted.

It really varies massively depending on the area. On average our area is £5 an hour without snacks or lunch. My son's childminder takes him to toddlers, does activities,.outings (normally free ones like parks etc) plus lots of learning through play.

I would be wary of going down the food route as it brings it own set or rules and costs with it.

@idontlikealdi

I pay my dog walker £10 an hour. The pay for childcare is atrocious.

True.

How many dogs is your Walker allowed at once?

I used to pay £60 per day which was from 8.30am to 5pm. I provided a packed lunch/snacks and nappies /wipes but I got loads of photos all through the day of the kids and what they were doing, plus a lovely book filled out with all the photos in. She took them out all the time for various activities and never asked me for extra for parking or treats etc. Childcare is expensive where I am though so this was about average.

idontlikealdi

I pay my dog walker £10 an hour. The pay for childcare is atrocious.

True, but does your dog need walking from 8am to 6pm five days a week?

I wish childminders could be paid more, but it’s a balancing act isn’t it, because so often you hear women saying they can’t afford to work because childcare costs more than they bring in.

FWIW, when I used a childminder, she had a higher disposable income than I did, despite the fact that I was in a professional salaried position and she was on a relatively low hourly rate. She was able to earn while not having to pay out any childcare costs for her own child.

Im a childminder in the northwest. I charge £5ph or £45 for a full day. I include food, trips, activities in that but not nappies. Rules have just changed so we don’t have to fill out books with photos/tracking but we do need to know where our children are. I do tracking but send photos via WhatsApp most days. For the babies I do a daily diary sheet. When they are 2ish I stop this when they can communicate more clearly. Tbh the diaries get a bit repetitive as we tend to do a lot of the same things as our routine.
Nurseries around here are more expensive.

£6 an hour is what I pay. That includes breakfast & lunch and dinner is available although mine dont stay for it.

For that I expect age appropriate activities, plenty of time outdoors, going to local parks, museums etc when open. I like mine to be in a home environment and taken on school run and supermarket etc as they would when with me. Other than that its the same EYFS as nurseries and preschools. I would not expect a diary etc but talk verbally with my CM and she texts me photos occasionally which is nice.

Rules have just changed so we don’t have to fill out books with photos/tracking but we do need to know where our children are.

There's never been a requirement to keep paperwork tracking progress.

Not having to fork out for childcare costs....well she is really because her child is taking up a space that she can't fill with a paying client.

I wonder if you think everyone who has a higher disposal income than you is being paid too much? I wonder how you even know that surely it depends on her outgoings and both of your whole situations not just your view that she's better off because you're subbing her childcare.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz 4!

London. I used to charge £55 a day 8 to 6, including lunch and dinner and activities. £5.50 an hour.

Then the government introduced the so called 'free' hours of childcare and imposed a rate of £4.35 an hour, per child. Which means that my income was lowered. So I started to charge for lunch and dinner (to bridge the gap). Parents understood and were happy to pay. It still worked out cheaper for them anyway.

@idontlikealdi

I pay my dog walker £10 an hour. The pay for childcare is atrocious.

I'm not really sure what you're getting at here.

1. child minders don't charge £10 an hour
2. a child requires quite a bit more care than a dog (they're also not remotely comparable)

I paid £8 an hour in London, sigh!

[quote idontlikealdi]@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz 4![/quote]
I know. Very very poor area.

My CM has three full time (8-6 5days per week), then she does wrap around for school age (8-9am then 3-6pm) for another 4.

During the school holidays she has all 7 (or a mix of) full time.

So term time she earns £136 per day, and School holidays it's up to £280 per day.

She takes annual leave (unpaid) and obviously has lots of expenses which then reduce her actual income.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

My CM has three full time (8-6 5days per week), then she does wrap around for school age (8-9am then 3-6pm) for another 4.

During the school holidays she has all 7 (or a mix of) full time.

So term time she earns £136 per day, and School holidays it's up to £280 per day.

She takes annual leave (unpaid) and obviously has lots of expenses which then reduce her actual income.

What kind of expenses does she have?

I used to pay (12 years ago) £65 a day 7am-7pm, including lunch, and taken yo activities nearly every day, id occasionally be asked for extra towards an extra activity which Id be happy to pay.

Well, all the food she feeds them, additional heating/water/electrical usage (of which is generated because she is working from home and using lights/appliances that she woildnt use as much if she wasnt childminding). Toddler groups. Craft supplies. Paying for courses to keep herself up to date on stuff. Replacing toys that break/purchasing toys to meet the specific needs of her mindees. Same with books. I think she pays membership to a professional body. Insurances etc.

My childminder is £35 a day includes lunch and snacks and days out, I have never been asked for extra money for anything and she often takes them paid for places such as the local aquarium and petting zoo.

To add balance I'm in commuterville in the SE and childminders locally are £6.50-£8/hr.

My childminder was £36 a day, including all food and trips out etc. We dropped at 8am and collected around 5.30pm.

In contrast nursery is £60 a day. Wish I'd stayed with the childminder to be honest!

I pay my childminder £4.50 for one child and £3 for other (sibling discount ) per hour. She is cheaper than most in area though so would normally expect to pay more. I don't pay any extra for meals, youngest used to have breakfast, lunch and dinner there.

They are both at school now but when youngest was little she used to take her to toddler groups, she had a zoo pass so they went there most weeks and did lots of crafts etc.