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

Right so ... are you saying there are days when you put in more than 2 hours work? Because now I'm confused since that's not how you originally presented your job.

@FinneusMum

No, I read it as the 2 hours per day part means you can't relate, as that means you don't need childcare!

Bloody hell I could work for 2 hours per day too and not need childcare - I'd work during my baby's nap times, job done!

Making digs that PP can't read is rude.

I also agree with them – I don't think you can relate to this thread in the way you think you can. Your position of being able to work only two hours a day while baton-passing childcare with your DH who also works from home is employment nirvana to most women and especially those who work in low paid jobs that cannot be done from home with spouses who also work outside the house. Your dismissiveness of these women by continually arguing your situation isn't unique is arrogant. You may as well just tell us we're all lazy and need to work harder to get better jobs.

Is it really so difficult to understand both factors make this much more possible? Add in a wfh DH as well (who can presumably cover those two hours) and no wonder it's not an issue.

Cross-post!

And there we have it, what you've been bursting to say all along. The rest of us clearly need to work harder, that's why we don't earn high figure salaries. 🙄

@FinneusMum

You are being really rude. Suggesting that people are stupid, can't read and can't do what you do. If anything you are being deliberately obtuse to deflect from the fact that your particular circumstances are what allow you to do what you do. I agree with PP that it's arrogant to deny that, and to suggest if people only had better job/ were smarter they could not exact the same.

Debate is all well and good, but resorting to put downs and rudeness when things aren't going your way isn't, in my experience, a sign of intelligence.

@FinneusMum

You made the following comments when you first contributed to this thread:

*I was hired for my brain not my time. HODs words not mine

He couldn't give 2 shits if I turned up for 2 hours a week as long as results were still good

I'm good enough at my job to do it in a few hours a day (and one of those hours is responding to emails)

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 which is it? You now do more than 2-3 per day? 🤔

Ok then. You are proving everyone's point well here.

And your insistance that the 2 hours is entirely irrelevant is making it look like you are the person who can't read. Because everyone else got it.

Starting to see why many on here aren't earning well and being valued at work

Fuck me. Just when you think someone can't possibly mode patronising and full of themselves.

I have a PhD and I am very highly valued at work thanks, as well as earning significantly above the national average.

But thanks for your concern

Fair play @FinneusMum you’re one of the rudest and most arrogant people I’ve come across on here. It’s almost impressive.

*be more

Yep. Really unattractive traits.

And your insistance that the 2 hours is entirely irrelevant is making it look like you are the person who can't read. Because everyone else got it.

This!

Have you worked out that I don't give a fck yet what my employer thinks?*

Good for you. Most people aren't in such a privileged position. The majority of people have to give a fuck what their employer thinks. They also have to give a fuck what their colleagues think or what their customers/clients/people who depend on their services think. This is because most people would be putting themselves and their families in a very precarious, if not disastrous position if they lost their jobs or got demoted. It's a bit rich to come on here bollocking on about "civil disobedience" and congratulating yourself for starting a one woman revolution when you're clearly in the unusual position if having a job that is somehow 100% secure or knowing your family can manage financially if you get sacked. Easy to be a rebel when you know you'll be fine either way.

😂
Fuck me.

Haven't read the thread, but...

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.

... unless you have a job that can only be done by someone who has children, childcare expenses are not your employers problem.

If you're so valuable they agree to pay that much extra, they should be paying it anyway, even if you don't you have children.

The situation with people who only work 2 hours a day aside, I don't think it is at all easy for people to WFH and look after a baby/small children at the same time, I had colleagues who had to during lockdown and it was a real struggle for them. I left my job 2 years ago when my DHs care needs increased significantly. I could have WFH long term and some accommodations would have been made (I had been there a loooong time) but I didn't think it fair to my colleagues or the people who might have been compromised by my half baked, stressed, inattentive attempts at the job.

Support your union in demanding more flexible conditions, strike if called on. Write to your MP about the energy increases. Protest about them. These are all valid, adult ways of seeking change. Unilaterally rewriting your terms of service and not caring if your work will be crap, isn't.