Loss of 30 free hours will cost me £37,000 of pre-tax income

[ChildcareCost]

9 month olds are eligible for 30 free hours from September. If you earn over the threshold, you do not get this 30 free hours plus the £2,000 of tax-free childcare.

My nursery typically charges £2,150 a month for an under-3. This works out at c. £10 an hour assuming a 50 hour week (open 8-6).

They have circulated the free hours schedule this week, and the monthly cost with 30 free hours is £1,100 hours for an under-3 (noting funded hours only cover 38 weeks).

This means the loss of the 30 free hours will cost me £12,600 a year. Plus of course the loss of tax-free childcare at £2,000.

So, I need to earn an extra £14,600 net just to cover the cost of not being eligible for this scheme.

To earn that £14,600 over £100,000 – I need to earn a gross figure of £137,000.

Surely this is not fair on the parents excluded from the scheme? It doesn't seem proportional that I need to earn an extra £37,000 just to recoup the loss as a result of not being eligible!

OP I think you have lost it. No one on £160k should get state help for children. Add your partners and you probably both earn over £200k.

But OP, everyone at certain levels loses something. I was a SAHM with high earning DH. We got fuck all of fuck all. Zero, nothing. No child benefit, no married persons allowance, no childcare, no transferable allowance, high rate taxpayer, with no allowances for being a single earning household. Others, where couples earned the combined equivalent, got everything, now, THATS not fair.

You know what, we even paid for private school and private healthcare, even though we contributed tens of thousands to the tax bucket.

We never claimed anything ever.

🎻🔬 There you go. 🤐

what you mean tax payers like HER? Paying huge amounts of tax and as such she is funding it herself in reality?

I don’t understand the hate you are getting here OP. Why is it ok to get basically £37k gross extra support if you earn £99,999 but you are expected to accept the loss if you earn £2 more and be grateful for it?

OP I’m in a similar situation to you and decided to go part time. I worked out that my full time salary without childcare support meant I was financially worse off than working part time and being eligible for childcare support, while also giving me better work life balance.

I bet you didn’t pay 2K a month for a standard nursery 10-15 years ago and your mortgage was much lower than now too.
even 4 years ago nursery for my eldest cost £1300 full time, now is 2K full time

this is obviously tongue and cheek. I used to earn a 6 figure salary until childcare costs fucked my career and now I earn min wage. I know hard work doesn’t equate to salary but I would never begrudge anyone their success.

Ok so I work part time and claim the free hours.

HMRC lose ~£35k of tax revenue and now have to give me the £14,600.

I know lots of people doing this - as I’ve said, if I earn a penny less than £137k I will lose money.

Why is this a positive? That is what I am being incentivised to do - and what a great many people are already doing.

There’s no point in being £500 a month better off? 😲

Why are you bashing high earners though, how is it their fault that you are on minimum wage and UC?
do you knot see that your UC top up actually is possible because someone else is earning much more money and pays a lot in tax?

The whole system is fucked tbh, between DH and I we paid overr 60k in tax last year and still can't get a fucking drs appt for the kids, god knows where the money goes

Not sure what the answer is.

No point if it requires much longer working hours for example and not seeing you child at all

Agree.

YANBU

There are some benefits that should just be universal and this is one of them.

Tongue and cheek?

Good luck. I looked after reading this post and didn't quite manage to find one small enough

And expect low paid workers to contribute to their child care costs….maybe the most mumsnet thing I’ve seen this century.

Which benefit is universal?

I know - that's a couple of new "fancy" sofas.
although my cats would shred them within 24hrs
😹

or

The annual running cost of CT, gas, elec, water, internet, house insurance and 2 (modest and not v new) cars.

I think it is completely fair to say someone on £100k shouldn’t be getting free childcare. However it is ridiculous that 2 people on £99k each could claim it - surely it’s about subsidising where there is greatest need? It should be based on a combined family income of say £150k

If you pay 60k in tax maybe you and others like you need to be taxed a bit more…

How many holidays will this cost you?

I've been paying tax for more than 50 years. I don't see why I should subsidise you.

And obviously, never had funded childcare

I think childcare should be a universal benefit. I pay plenty of tax, participating in the support that funds for everyone else would be nice.

It's not thought of like that - and frankly getting any government help with childcare hard enough with more of the electorate being beyond needing it or never wanting kids.

People near the threshold with put more in their pensions, or cut hours.

People well over the thresehold - pay or drastcially reduce your pay either by hours or work done.

I think if we want people at all social economic levels to have more kids going forward then we need to offer more support. However many are unaware of how low our birth rate is or don't see an issue with it which includes the current government.

There are quite a few benefits I have been eligible for over the years and could have claimed. 95% of the time I didn’t because I could get by without so I left it in the state coffers so to speak. I guess its in part perspective.

Enjoy Dubai all of you fleeing, sounds absolutely exceptional from what I have heard 😆

People have a tendency to think what am I missing out on, what am I not getting that others are.
This scheme is trying to level the playing field. Help those that need it.

Pay your own childcare you greedy sod