To think new parents are complaining more these days about nursery costs

[NameChangedOct24]

….even though they get the funding much earlier?

previously it was 15 or 30 hours from 3 years old. Parents would be grateful of the discount, with sometimes confusion about why the hours were not ‘free’ in private nurseries, top up fees and term time only stretched etc. I remember my monthly fee dropping from £1900 to £1400 from the 30hr funding and being happy with the saving.

recently though, working parents get some funding much earlier, which is great but they think it’s shocking that they still have to pay for childcare, on here and in real life. Eg colleague complains about it being only 15 hours, can’t afford to put them in 3+ days a week so need to wfh with toddler at feet. Aibu my colleagues don’t appreciate the better deal they have compared to a few years ago!?

Yabu. I know people who are worse off now two year olds get "free" hours. The nursery has increased the fees for the non-free hours for everyone to cover the shortfall in funding given by the government.

Of course it’s not entitled to complain about the costs - they are very high! More than our mortgage! We’ve only just got the savings as our child is three, but it’s not a lot.

I hate this mentality of ‘I had it worse so others shouldn’t complain’. Would you say the same about sexual harassment in the work place?

In Wales you get fuck all until they've turned 3yo so there's that!

I thought we paid a lot for twins years back but it's a lot less than what one colleague is paying for just one child. The free hours also seem to be not quite free. My free hours were literally the nursery's rates and discounted from the bill. From talking to colleagues, it appears that there is an established national rate, regardless of what your own nursery charges so you may get very little "free" hours back. And the later incarnation of childcare vouchers/top up scheme is a lot more of a pain than the original lot. I'm very glad my nursery days are over!

If you're on universal credit you can get 85% back

DTs are 20 years old and you would have heard me complain plenty about the cost of childcare back when mine were younger. I couldn’t afford to work more than 3 days a week whilst they were in nursery.

i couldn’t believe how much a friend is paying for nursery now, it’s more than double. Wages haven’t doubled in 20 years, so no wonder people are complaining.

Coming from a parenting era where there was no such thing as free or subsidised, one wonders why many many parents (not talking about unexpected babies) don't plan in advance, knowing the likely cost?
It's what we had to do, saving hard to cover loss of a salary because minimal maternity pay.

I have twins.

Believe me, I will absolutely moan about the fees. It's eye watering

Ah yes, the magic 'planning in advance'. Gives talismanic protection against soaring costs due to inflation, the sector shrinking, governments implementing allegedly free hours that they don't fund properly and leave providers to try and recoup the difference from paying parents.

I did. There's been a pandemic and a cost of living crisis since then.

It's really shit that you didn't have free or subsidised childcare but surely our aim as a society should be for it to be the best it can be, not to stay the same.

I had to pay for my higher education but I would absolutely support it being free because I know how shit it is to have to pay for it and I would love society to be better and fairer.

Also I don't think that only people who have the luxury of thinking ahead, planning in advance or saving should be able to have children, or have children and choose whether they stay home to parent or go out to work.

If you'll read the thread, you'll see price rises haven't been particularly predictable. When you consider the whole picture including increased mortgage and energy costs it's no wonder families are struggling more than they were 5 years ago.

Your anger is misdirected, you shouldn't be annoyed at new parents complaining, you should be annoyed at the government for allowing us to have childcare costs that are considerably higher than any other similar European country.

This. Seven years ago a 4 day week for an under 3 cost me £925 a month. My youngest daughter has just started nursery, and it is £1250 a month for a 4 day week after the funding is applied.

It should be subsided

Like it is abroad

Makes sense for everyone

£1975 for 4 days per week WITH funding.

^

What??!?

How is it this expensive???

We're in a very privileged position to have family help with childcare. Even with that, I've had to take a £20k a year pay cut to make it work. If we had to pay a nursery for the days I work we wouldn't be able to pay our other bills. So I completely understand why people complain, and I'm incredibly grateful that we don't have to use a nursery.

£1900 in 2020 would have been an unusually expensive nursery. You can't compare your luxury choice to a more regular nursery and think it's a bargain that regular nurseries still aren't quite as expensive as your posh one was.

You can't plan in advance when childcare fees are pushing £2k per month

Presumably your "era" was also one where cost of living was such that a family could afford a stay at home parent

People should be moaning about it. We should probably be protesting in the streets. It's a disgrace.

DD is 4 and at nursery part time, it was £56 a day when she started, it's now £82 a day. The staff are still getting NMW or just above. The 30 hours funding is term time only, she's in all year round because we work all year round so we stretch the hours but it's not much of a dent. Add in after school club for my eldest that's gone up £3 a session in two years, swimming lessons that have gone up £10 a month in three years plus mortgage, energy, food costs, insurance premiums rising, there's not a lot of spare cash left. And we're one of the lucky ones - two NT kids, we both WFH part of the week so save on costs there, good overall income, no loans except the mortgage. I don't know how people are coping tbh.

Having lived abroad and had it for next to nothing and then free from aged 3 till 6... yes it's worth complaining about here we're I get a lot less childcare for a lot more money.

Well we've basically made a society where looking after kids isn't not valued at all.

If you stay at home or don't work "enough" hours, you aren't contributing, apparently.

But at the same time nursery staff are paid appalling wages.and are literally leaving to work in supermarkets instead as the wages are better and it's less stressful.

Both parents often now need to work, sending younger and younger kids to nursery.

But nobody actually wants to / is able to pay for it, via wages or taxes or whatever. I'm including the government in that statement by the way, but also people generally.

Yes but apparently you should've had some manner of time machine available to you, and you only have yourself to blame if you don't.

Is it entitled? Is it moaning? Or is it commenting on a system that doesn’t work? It doesn’t work for the parents / families but it also doesn’t work for the childcare providers. If we want healthy, able adults to be working and paying tax, we need to find a way to make childcare affordable and proportionate to the average household income.

I am not a parent so I have no skin in this game. I recognise the value of a well funded system of childcare though. I disagree with the means testing too. It’s ridiculous a family of 2 earners with incomes of £99k each can get the funded hours but a single parent on £101k does not. It should be means tested on household income.

If it was entirely free for parents wouldn’t everyone’s taxes just go up again to accommodate this?