Childminder fees

[BlueberryPancake]

I am still struggling on deciding how much to charge. I have just been ofsted-approved and have checked locally, and local childminders charge between 45 pounds and 60 pounds a day. £60 sounds like a lot to me, but I wasn't sure if I should price myself at 50 or 55. Other childminders in London, opinion please? Is it too much? I live in a nice part of London with lots of professional couples. Thanks for opinions!

Have a look on childcare.co.uk at local childminders some might put their prices on there.

I need to move to London! I'm £3 an hour and I have a level four qualification one early years and am in my third year of a degree with 14 years experience as nanny and nursery manager!!!!!

It depends.

Some of the higher rate childminders might be more experienced and qualified and therefore you'd expect to pay them more.

Childcare.co.uk is a good idea, as south345 says. You can always start off at the lower end of the scale as you're newly registered and it might attract business, and then if you need to increase your prices later (some people increase annually)

It would also be worth thinking in terms of hourly rates as well as having a daily rate.

I agree with the qualification - I know a retired head teacher who is now a childminder and charges £60 a day, and £10 an hour for after school. The cheapest I could find in my local area is £45. A local nursery which received an outstanding Ofsted charges £57 a day. I might go for the option of charging less for the first year and have a small increase after a year.

The higher rates might include all nappies food outings etc and the lower rates might not. You need more information

Don't start off low - you may find yourself resenting charging less but feeling too guilty to put up fees. If the market rate is high near you then why charge less? Would you go for a different job interview and when they offer you the job say 'thanks thats great I'd love the job, but that salary is just too high!' Remember you can only have a few mindees and (hopefully) they'll be with you for a long time. I'd start off charging £60pd - you can always lower it or offer special discounts to parents (include nappies, lower rate if they do more than 3 days pw with you etc) if you aren't getting much interest.

Value yourself and have confidence in the service you'll be offering! Think about - what qualifications/personal experience do you have, what is your house like, what toys/resources do you have etc? Whats your USP - will you do lots of outings (included in fees?)? provide homecooked/organic food? take less children than you're registered for to ensure you give a higher quality care (no offence to CMers who have lots of children, just suggesting how the OP could 'sell' herself).

Local CM rates near me are (generally) higher than what you're thinking of charging, but 1 CM I know does charge £35 ish - she has been doing it forever and thinks of the clients as friends, which is lovely - but business-wise doesn't make great sense. But before I decided to become a CM myself and met her through a toddler group I looked at her details and thought 'whats wrong with her that her rates are so low?' and I know other parents who'd thought the same.

(hope this makes sense, no time to proof read as toddler desperate to help me type!)

I agree 100% with leeloo1. Do not start off too low on your daily or hourly rate because it will be VERY difficult to raise your prices. Without sounding corny, you must believe in yourself and in your practice. Yes, experience does count for a lot, but I know many childminders with years and years of experience and I would not send my child to them! (I am a CM myself)

Your fee will also depend on what you include, as leeloo1 points out. Work out what you are offering and then price accordingly.

I charge £7 per hour, no reduced daily rate and no reductions for siblings.
Operate in a fairly affluent part of North London and am practically always full with a waiting list. I offer extended hours and am extremely flexible. My parents are all professional people. If they like you, they will pay what you ask. Do not sell yourself short.

I have quit now and returned to teaching but I used to charge £6 ph with no discounts, parents had to supply nappies/wipes and food for under 1's. I wasn't particularly flexible and enforced late collection charges and late payment fees and was always full. I was also OFSTED outstanding.

am just looking into childminders myself, what is standard practice when parents and childminder are sick or on holiday? what do people charge/get charged?
thanks

I don't charge for any holidays or sickness from either side.
You only pay when you attend.
Parents like it because they feel that they are not paying for something they're not getting, and no-one takes advantage.
It would not work for everyone but works for me. I think it is wrong for CM's to charge for their holidays if they're receiving the benefits of self-employment, personally.