Nanny (live out) or Childminder? Northwest

[lynseymumof4]

I have 4 children ages 4, 3, 1 and 8 week's. I'm trying to get a full time job but as i'm a single mother, i will need adequate childcare while i am at work. None of my children are at full time school just yet and only my 2 oldest are at full time nursery (15hrs pw). I'm not sure what my hour's will be just yet as i've not got a job yet lol but I'm looking for an average cost. Is it going to be cheaper for me to hire a live out nanny for hour's of around 50 per week or hire a child minder for 4 children? I know live out nanny's are between £7- £10 per hour but not sure on child minders fee's, are they per child, per hour, per day or? It's really giving me grief as I am desperate to get back into work and start showing my kid's that working is what you're supposed to do. Their father and i have recently split, he has moved back down south with his parent's and has nothing to do with his children so him doing some 'parenting' while i work isn't an option :0( Please help? xx

Most CMs charge per child, so might be more than a nanny.

What salary are jobs you can apply for offering? With 4 children, your Childcare cost will be high, so your salary will need to be high.

A nanny could be the lower cost option as their salary is not based on number of children. A childminder would charge based on number of children.

Your local Family Information Service can give you a list of registered childminders and may know the average cost per hour in your area.

A nanny could be around £10 gross an hour, plus employers national insurance, activity costs, travel cost on duty, payroll admin, etc.

Either way, I expect your childcare cost could be 30,000 plus, assuming full-time. So your job needs to be paying 60,000 plus to cover the cost plus give you some money left over -as you pay for childcare out of your take home pay (after tax deductions).

I charge £30 per day per child and I charge less than most, I'm a childminder, so yes think a nanny would probably be cheaper for you.

As Nannynick says, unless you are earning a really good salary, it is going to be hard for you to afford childcare when your children are so young. I am a childminder charging £5 per hour per child, so your 4 with me for a 10 hour day would cost £200 per day! PLus you'd have to find a childminder with space for so many children, which could be very tricky. A nanny would definitely be cheaper, but still expensive.... Your best bet would be to get your exH to pay for your nanny if he is not going to provide childcare...otherwise I can't see how you can do it.

\unfortunately for me, i have no option but to pay for childcare and get back into full time work as i won't get much if any help with cost's in part time work. I will get help towards the costs if i take up full time work. I wanted to attend college while i was being a stay at home single mum but the new rules from the government we have right now states that i must seek full time employment as soon as my youngest turns 1 or have my benefit's stopped. Either way, i have no choice. I'd love to work but child care is going to play an important role in that. I am enquiring about all the cost's and the help i could receive over the next few day's. If I can't get enough help towards childcare cost's then I will be basically working for less than i get now or for free which will be challenging as i'm struggling to pay for everything now. But as i said, new government rules mean's I will have no choice. Thank you for advice xx

Currently you can get up to 230 a week of help via tax credits Childcare element. Not sure what happens with universal credit when that kicks in.
Problem is, that 230 (70% of 300, the max weekly claim amount) is that it represents a small part of your Childcare cost, due to the number of children you have.

I think you'd have to have an ofsted registered nanny to be able to get help with the costs too - not sure though.