How much do childminders roughly earn?

[ohcluttergotme]

Wonder if anyone can help me, I'm thinking of giving up nursing to do childminding. I have 2 dc ( 13 & 2.10) I dropped my hours from 37.5 to 22 as couldn't afford full time childcare. I'm no better off with part -time as all relative but I'm happier & less exhausted so that counts.
After tax & childcare I'm basicly earning about £5.50 per hour and wondered if I would be better off doing childcare.
Wonder if anyone would be able to give me some actual earnings about what they take home every month as childminder as pro's & cons.
I trained as nursery nurse before nursing so have relevant qualifications & last year trained as health visitor which I think would be helpful.
We are currently ttc and I know I couldn't afford childcare for 2 under 5.
Tia ??

The other obstacle are parents who don't pay on time or just don't pay! I have had this recently and am thinking of quitting as I just cannot compete against other cms with massive playrooms or an extra room to do activities and store toys.

I have done a Teaching Assistant course so I think I will be trawling the jobcentre before my dinner lady job tomorrow. I am also looking on agency websites for Nursery nurse work having done NVQ Level3 while minding.

Time for a change I think.

If I took on 3 EYFS full time plus a couple of wraparound I'd probably be certified insane but could bring in nearly £50k so a lot depends on the area & general demand.

Eta mum2luke do you get payment in advance & take a deposit? It might help if you don't already as no fee = no childcare which usually focuses the parent's mind!!

Hello, I would like to ask you a question about the start of your career and how you got people to come to you. How did you advertise it?

Hi,
I work with my Dh and we bring in roughly £1000 - £1200 per week.]
We do work very hard for that, but a lot comes off as expenses so we pay very little tax.
Hopefully we will up the income even more when both our own DC are out of the early years group.
Best thing we ever did and we now earn more in terms of disposable income than when he was on £40 k a year!

It is easy to think in terms of income rather than profit. Doing the annual accounts does bring home how much extra cost there is - my biggest (necessary) extravagances being heating the house all day and putting fuel in a large thirsty people carrier. I was a bit blasé at first, but now I think how many hours am I working for nothing to afford that outing to the zoo or that lovely go=cart. It's also not a career for the faint=hearted inasmuch as you can go from full to practically empty at the drop of a hat. I have had a couple of parents lose their jobs and instantly no longer require childcare. It's not something I'd do if we really really needed a steady income; it would make me too anxious.

I used to earn over 30k profit when worked with another childminder and assistant. I gave up because it became too much, my kids suffered and I wanted my house back ... if I had a separate playroom with toilet that stops children using the rest of my house I would have probably been still doing it.

I agree with those saying you want your house back. I was like at this time last year. No where to store toys, a lounge diner, so we had to look at the toys all the time, all weekend, evenings etc. I nearly gave up. We have since moved house, have extra storage upstairs- a massive walk in cupboard (next to airing cupboard), a Seperate lounge and dining room so in don't have to look at toys, a downstairs loo. All these things have made my job so much easier.

For 6 months last year I had two under 5s full time. I earnt less than £3 per hour after all my expenses were taken off. It's not much. I have to look at it that while my income is low, at least I am not paying out childcare for my children, so it's not so bad. But I work really hard and feel I am worth more, but have to balance spending money with my need for an income. (Ie, go to soft play, which at £2.50 a child, means my income for that hour is super low). I claim for everything I can. Heating, lighting, council tax, mileage etc. the inland revenue say I can claim them, so why wouldn't I?

I'm think I must be missing something as I took £18k last tax year & my profit was nearly £12k. Aside from usual food, drink, outings, heat/light/water/ctax & any resources, what else can I legally put through expenses?

I don't think that's unusual Phoebe. A lot depends on where you are (council tax varies hugely), how far you are from schools and outings (mileage), whether or not you offer/include meals in your costs, how large/hard to heat your house is and so on. Other variables will include how many resources you need to buy, and that will be higher if you have a spread of ages, and whether entrance fees and so on are dear in your area. It also depends how long you have been minding - when I first started I was off to the craft shop every five minutes, but now I tend to have the basic stuff in stock and can improvise activities to use what we already have.

With a profit of 12k, you will not be paying a lot of tax as your personal allowance will come off that.

I live in SW London and there is huge demand for childminders who charge £70-£75 per day. Most work mon - thu and charge 2-4 weeks holiday per year.

Hey in in NE London, I charge slightly below average, I charge in full for holidays and BH, at £5p/h. I have 3 or 4 children everyday, each paying that, and a couple of times a week I have a schoolie on a term time only contract. I work from 8.15-6.30ish a day, often completing paperwork late into the night!

I am currently expecting baby #1 and my hubby plans to register as my assistant a couple of months prior to due date so that the three of us (and other children) can all be at home together. For us it's the dream scenario, and only achievable because of my CM. We have done the sums, and hubby will actually be earning more as my assistant 4 days a week, than he did working 5/6days a week!

It's swings and round abouts though...I get very tired (not helped by alien growing inside me) and cannot possibly imagine doing this job in 10yrs time!!! The paperwork is forever changing, you need to constantly keep your self up to date with training, and new legislation- which can cost a lot!

And sometimes when it's half6 and the same parent is going to be 15minutes late, again, you just want to scream because you know full well it will be at least another hour before you have had chance to sit down.

No job is the perfect job, you have to weigh up pros and cons, what I would stress above all else, is that like the nursing profession, childcare is the hardest job in the world, if your heart isn't in it 200%.

Good luck with your decision! X

I look after three children in total, I work three days a week and make (before tax and expenses) 330 pounds a week, plus the occasional extra day. It's not much but makes a big difference to what our family can afford. I have other incomes and investments so I do end up paying taxes every year. If you keep your childminding small, you can study/have another job at the same time. I would really struggle to look after children 5 days a week it would drive me nuts. I don't have an assistant but I have a very good cleaner!

Hi i just finished of my child minding course, Ofsted registry and other short courses left before i can fully start.

i live in london rates varies and my friend will charge £10 as shes near central london, where i live its 8.50ph x that by 6 children and say its 7-7 you'll make profit especially if your going full time plus i dont have kids i want 3 but once ive started my busniess then i am able to have my own as uni and full time work is taking it out of me. Tax and rent in this country is a killer. i live in a flat so i cant start now, after i finish my final year of uni ill start next june, hopefully also put a deposit on a house with garden so kids can play. I am studying to become a nurse actually its so long and nurse earn 25+ but the shift patterns put me off especially early and late starts :(

i also want to stay home as a house wife looking after my own as well as other children and get paid, which is the best option. Just plan the day and paste yourself timewise it'll be great x

o i heard out of hour pay is £10 per 3 min, is that true...?

Another thing my friend got a 7 seater after 6 months as a child minder

I think my last tax return was about £16k after expenses. And I have 3 under 5 spaces. I also have children before and after school and in holidays too so it's not a massive amount of money. I also work quite long hours as first child arrives 7.15am but last child leaves at 5.30/6.30 depending on days. I do love it though as I can do my own thing and I can be there for my own family. Only thing is, the qualifications basically mean nothing and you will still have to do all the courses etc before u start unfortunately but it's obv a selling point to parents if you're qualified and have experience etc.

@sallykhan you won't be able to have 6 children at the same time unless you mean some older children who will usually be at school. 3 is the max of the younger ones you can have all day.

Thought I would share this after my husband had written a post on it.

I live in the South-East, but too far from London to charge those prices! I'm currently working 3-4 days per week and usually have at least 4 children for those days.

In total, I earn around £25k per year. It might sound ideal, but there is a lot of work I have to do outside of my usual hours. Contracts, policies, training and meeting with parents take up quite a bit of time.

The last couple of months have been a lot harder as you constantly have to wash everything in the house and parents aren't allowed in.

I have 3 kids and it can be quite difficult during the holidays as they don't want to spend their days downstairs with a bunch of toddlers. However, they are getting to that age where they prefer to spend more time in their bedrooms.

There are a lot of ups and downs to it, so although it sounds like a great job, it can be tough.

My husband has written a bit more about working as a childminder if it helps anyone - such as qualifications you need and the work involved.

www.householdmoneysaving.com/working-as-a-childminder-the-ins-and-outs/