Is this just not on?

[littleanimal]

DD (4) and DS (2) currently go to a day-care nursery on the 3 days a week that I work. However the days are very long (8-6 at nursery plus commute) and we're thinking of changing to a nanny. Both kids could go to a local pre-school for 3 hours every morning. We would need the nanny to take them there and then pick them up afterwards and look after them for the rest of the day. This would be a much more expensive option than the current nursery. Would it be completely unreasonable to pay only half-pay for the 3 hours each day that the nanny would not have the kids to look after?

Do you have to pay a childminder for the hours when the children aren't there?

Iggly - the local rate for nannies seems to be £11-12 per hour. Daycare nursery has got a lot cheaper since DD gets 15 hours per week funded.

You have to pay a childminder for the pre-school hours if you wanted her to drop off, be available for holidays etc.

Do you have space for a live-in nanny?

Every childminder runs their business differently, some will and some won't charge whilst a child is at pre-school. If a child is at full-time school (10 educational sessions per week) then they are classed in the over 5's ratio, so I would not expect a childminder to charge during the time the child was at school - though would charge for doing the school run and may have minimum charge for before school and after-school session.

Your local Family Information Service (local council or county council) can provide further information about local childminders and provide a contact list, so you can ask individual childminders about availability and costs.

It can be hard to determine nanny rates... in the current market there seems to me to be more nannies than there are jobs. As the employer you set the salary you will pay, if you put that salary in a job ad, then nannies can decide to apply for the job, or not.

Childminders decide on the fees they charge for providing their service.

With both types of childcare there can be additional costs involved beyond the annual salary/monthly/hourly rate. So to be able to compare things cost wise you need a good idea of how much each type of care will cost, including things like Employers NI (part of the cost of employing a nanny), cost of outings/activities, food, travel, how much time off someone is likely to have (and if that time off is paid - in the case of a nanny they must be given minimum holiday entitlement whereas childminders may or may not charge if they are closed).

I would say that generally a nanny for 2 children will be more expensive than other forms of childcare. However other forms of childcare may not be as convenient (nanny comes to you, so you don't have to get the children up and dressed in the morning), may not provide the hours of care needed (nannies can start early in the morning and finish late in the evening), and a nanny does some household duties - having someone else do some washloads during the week really can help keep on top of the laundry mountain.

I see. We pay about £10/hour but had forgotten the free hours. Can you get childcare vouchers?

Paying half pay might be an issue if it was under national minimum wage requirements too.