How would you view a 5% increase to your childcare bill?

[NickNacks]

I need to increase my rate from £40. I've been at this rate for over a year and was thinking of upping it to £42. That seems reasonable to me but it's 5%. What do you think?

Depends on rates in your area probably. I increased mine just over 2% this year

You might mind parents struggle to pay it, depending on their employer..... I'm public sector and wages have been frozen for the last 2 or 3 years with no increase in sight. I know a parent's family budget shouldn't be your worry, but you don't want to lose mindees

I'm below other local CMs ATM. Others tend to charge hourly at about £5. I charge session rates so for some I'm cheaper and others I'm a bit more expensive.

DH is public sector too so I realise that. This isnt to increase my profit but just to sustain it. Food prices, fuel and activities have all gone up (included in my fee) and I am making less and less each month.

If costs have risen then you have to do it. If you're still competitive compared to the alternatives then parents will pay it.

I'm putting up prices in September. Doing my tax return was a bit of a shocker = I had taken more money than last year but earned less as expenses were so much higher, even though I thought I had been reasonably careful. Food bills and fuel costs are the big ones, and they have gone up by a lot more than 5%.

That's exactly it! I earnt c£7000 last year. For a full time job that's shockingly shit :(

Seems very reasonable to me.

£5 an hour to look after a child? That's not even minimum wage.

amother childminders charge per child so it's £5 per child, per hour. If they have 3 children it's £15 per hour for example.

Yeah, but a lot of minders are in the position of having one or more of their own to look after at preschool age. I can only take one, for example, so even though I charge £50 per day that's the top rate that I can earn.

And what we charge isn't what we earn. It's our gross income. And my profit is usually about 50% of what I charge parents.

I have spent the past two weeks trying to find a way of increasing fees and not being seen as greedy by parents I compared my accounts for the last 5 years and I have not earnt anymore after expenses - the costs, especially food and utilities have shot up in the last 2 years!

Many CMs near to me charge £5.50 or £6 ph and also charge for 4-5 weeks holiday. They don't have any more problem than I do getting work. I have had a day rate of £50 and no holiday, not changed for 4 years so am going to go up to £53. Still dont feel comfortable charging for holidays but it is getting tighter financially.

yes, i am going to follow suit too. realised that i am really selling myself short.
i don't charge for holidays/bank holidays. everyone else i know does and feeling a bit of a wally now. think it's time to get tough!! these bills aren't going to pay themselves.
my problem is i feel bad, but what i fail to take into account is how much my mindees parents earn as a combine wage and then i feel a bit at myself for not realising what i am worth as a (good) childcarer!! couple that with the fact that most parents now get help from WFTC and or vouchers and if they don't then they can afford to pay minimum wage to someone for care of their child!!
need to screw my business head on that's for sure....

I put it in my contract that my fees increase by £2 every September then send a newsletter to my parents in July reminding them :)

I would struggle to pay an extra 5%. It's tough for you too so I would understand.

Just to put it in perspective, every nursery my children have attended has increased its prices annually.

if you are cheaper then other cm's in your area, then i would increase, tbh 5% isnt a huge rise when your rates are as low as £40 hence £2per day extra for childcare isnt alot

I think going from £40 to £42 per day is probably reasonable. I would write a nice letter reminding parents what they get for that, which sometimes is not paid for by childminders (e.g. Food, activities).

If I were the parent I would very quickly make the connection that £2 per day means £40 or £45 from the monthly budget.

If it has been a long time since your last increase I would also note that in the letter.

I think that's ok. I also think that, for most parents, if their child is happy and settled with a childminder, and you have a good relationship with that CM, they would accept an increase in fees. The happiness and stability of their DC will be worth more to them than £2 per day.

But if the relationship isn't good to start off with (I'm not saying that this applies to you in any way, OP), then an increase could be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and they look elsewhere.

i'm just going to raise my rates from £3 per hour to £3.30 an hour and thats 10%!

I do hope my parents are happy to take that on

£2 per day for a 10hr day is 20pence per hour - surely no parent would bulk at paying that??

How ironic. Potential family who visited the other day, and who appreciated the fact I did not charge for hols, have just made second viewing appointment with a colleague who charges second highest fees in area, 4 weeks hols and two training days. I had really liked them and was looking forward to working with them too

Thank you all.

I will be increasing but will give notice on Friday of the increase starting in April so plenty of time. All my mindees are long term so I don't think they will go anywhere else. I'm putting them up out of necessity not a money making scheme and I hope they realise that.

Oh and I just wanted to reassure everyone that Tuesdays are my day off!