Not paying for childcare this autumn as bills go up

[Essenceandvibes]

I've just had an epiphany.....I absolutely won't be paying a penny for childcare this autumn as bills increase and I won't be made to feel guilty about it either. I can work from home and watch my baby and pick up my 10 year old from school without the assistance of anyone else and if my employer has an issue with it, he can pay an extra £2000 per month post tax to cover the cost of full time help.

Our bills are going to be about £800 a month just electricity and gas alone for our detached 4 bed house, this isn't even thinking about the increase of petrol or groceries.

The mortgage has also gone up a few hundred quid too....childcare and commuting is now a luxury not necessity and I really hope every parent joins me in asking for employers like it or lump it

Shameful the government have let everything get this far, the knock on effects will be huge

🥱it’s taken me ages to catch up on this thread as I’ve just woken up from my nap. First day back after holidays and I did what I needed to do by 10.

OP I don’t blame you in the slightest, 99% of companies give zero fucks and show zero loyalty to us.

enjoy your children and the salary for as long as it lasts.

I for one give zero fucks if I get fired and given my commuting costs are £25/day, they won’t be tempting me back into the office any time soon… although I suppose I could crack in with my novel if I did.

lol! What is this job you’re so amazing at that you can do it in 2-3 hours a day while looking after young children?

It’s weird to me that people are saying a 4 bed house is a luxury sell it OP… well, we don’t know when OP bought her house or how much for. By way of comparison, i too have a 4 bed detached house bought 3.5 years ago and also have 2 children. If I were to sell and downsize, I’d still need a minimum of 3 beds and ideally a study for wfh, I’d be paying the same amount for a 3 bed as I did my 4 bed because house prices have gone up. Willing to bet it’s similar for the OP.

now personally I couldn’t wfh and look after my baby but I know those who do…guess it depends on your level of seniority and your responsibilities if you can get your objectives done. I couldn’t. But I feel you OP the fact cost of living is extortionate and you’ve had no raise to reflect it, hardly motivates you. Maybe vote with your feet and see if you can find another job that’s better paying (I know I need to), then maybe you could condense your hrs too? Knock off at least one day in the week?

You'd probably manage fine with the 10 year old but you simply won't get enough or even anything done with a baby around. Honestly.

@FinneusMum

Yes I read it. I work with many professional people and they’re not required to have bums on seats for 37 hours. Hardly ground breaking news.

I can think of a few colleagues of mine who quite simply have brilliant brains, but they do work more than 2 hours a day mind.

Despite popular belief not every company owner is a billionaire and many companies are only just surviving (we have increased energy bills too) so if all employees started not working but looking after their children you soon wouldn't have a job as companies would go bust. Not all company owners have any sort of direct line to the gov to ask them to help the ordinary person.

Sorry but either do the job you are paid to do and dont take the p* by pretending to WFH while you are really looking after your baby or resign so you can be a full time SAHM.

If a baby is stuck in front of TV/tablet that it is possible to do work and "look after baby". If that's OP's idea of childcare.

It seems like you've forgotten what babies are.

Universal credit won't pay the utility bills on your 4-bed detached house, so you may have to adjust your expectations.

I worked from home with a 18 month old BEFORE the pandemic. We had a nice routine, I was highly productive in work and my child was not neglected. She learned to play on her own for half hour stints at a time and I would take short breaks to play with her regularly throughout the day, similar to a tea break you might have in an office.
The key was being strict with yourself and nap times. She was still napping 2 hours in the afternoon so that helped too. I'm due another soon and as I still work from home, I too am planning on reducing childcare costs by keeping baby at home with me most days ( though may do some half days in nursery).

Are you kidding me as babies are parents were parked outside the front garden in our prams for hours on end whilst they did the house work, did the hair, my mum couldn’t comprehend why I wasn’t doing that, I cant think of a good reason in retrospect.

Oh don't worry. Apparently they aren't going to pay bills, according to their posts. 🙄

Everyone, literally everyone I asked, who had both parents working, had some help during lockdown, either grandparents or a nanny.
I found a nanny but my partner was so scared of COVID that he did not agree for the nanny to come to our home.
It seems I was the only one in my circle who had to look after 9 month old baby and do full time work.
My employer allowed to catch up with work during night hours. During the lockdown I had 2 hours sleep max each day.
I had a very bad breakdown after the end of lockdown, still now sure what it was, stroke or something else.
I had memory loss and still not fully recovered.
I did hormones test recently and they were at the level of 90 year old. I was prescribed DHEA to slow down ageing process.
If OP can do her work with 2 hours then she will be able to manage. Otherwise I feel sorry for her and her children.

Oh yes please!

@FinneusMum

Yes I can see the difference. But you still come across as arrogant. 🤷‍♀️

Well, if you don't need the money, by all means break your contract and risk your job.

I do 2-3 hours a day, performance exceeds the first and last person in my role (who only lasted 6 weeks) and I get amazing feedback
So why are they emoting FT? They clearly set very low performance expectations or are really crap at managing their staff. And yep, very typical of large businesses!

So you made it! The envy of everyone. Earning a high income, bonuses for doing very little just because your IQ is in the 5%. You are very very privileged.

Your privilege is not transferable to the masses. Even someone with average intelligence can comprehend so I fail to understand why it's clearly a concept beyond your capacity.

hey OP, a lot of people might not agree with you now but they will do in 3 months when they start feeling the pinch and their wallet feeling lighter.
It is hard to accept that shit is going to hit the fan this winter. Inflation is real and is going to be very painful for most of us.

You know kids are infrastructure too right and parenting is a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act?

Oh, man. Are you one of those Sovereign Citizens or Freeman-on-the-Land types?!

😂

No one is denying that it will be painful. It will be even more so when people get sacked for low performance or breaking the terms of their contract.

OP doesn't care, there is no risk to her it would seem.

So you made it! The envy of everyone.

Nah. Not really. Having read the description of that person's job it sounds dull, tbh. Much rather be doing what I do and being paid very well to do it, even if it does require more than 2 hours per day of work 😂

@lancsgirl85

I have to admit I was expecting something much more interesting 🤔.

Right. So you aren’t actually employed at all then - you’re self employed.