average childminder costs London

[SaveMeTheWaltz]

I've been temporarily moved from a part time to full time contact at work, and so need to find an extra two days a week of childcare for my DD (3). Our next door neighbour has a little girl DD's age, they get on well and spend a lot of time at each others house. My neighbour has suggested that she would be happy to look after DD for two days a week.

The difficult question is working out how much to pay her. An extra two days a week at nursery would only cost us another £300 per months. Would it be fair to pay my neighbour this sum? My worry is that when I work it out per or per hour, it doesn't look like very much (c. £36 per day or around £4 per hour). Is this a normal wage for a childminder in London? I don't want to underpay my neighbour, but nor do I want to end up paying more than I would if DD was in nursery instead.

[Other possibly relevant info, no, my neighbour is not a registered professional childminder, but I would actually rather have my DD with her than in nursery those extra two days - DD is best friends with her daughter, they all do lots of creative play, outdoor activities, cooking etc, and I think that it would offer more balance that five days a week at nursery. My neighbour currently works part time, but can't work as much as she would ideally like due to cost of childcare.]

Have a look on local council and listings sites like childcare.co.uk to see if you can establish typical childminder fees.

National minimum wage is £6.50. This would be the lowest amount you could offer to pay a nanny. This is relevant because your neighbour is not a registered childminder, so can not provide care in exchange for payment. You can swap childcare but when it involves payment, then law gets in the way. To overcome the law, you have her as your nanny, caring for your child at your home.
You would have employer responsibilities.

£4 an hour is unrealistic. At a guess I would say childminders in London will be at least £5 and probably more like £6.

Nursery is likely to be same or cheaper.

She would be breaking the law by caring for your child in her home for more than 2 hrs and receiving a reward. This could be money, childcare swaps etc.

Yes was just going to say what PP said about not receiving a reward.

I Also charge £5.95p/h so If I were in your shoes I would take extra days at nursery!!

Childminder (and nursery!) vary hugely according to what part of London you are in, so it is impossible to give a meaningful reply from what you have posted.

In your position I would increase the nursery days.

This set-up would not be legal. Although a lot of people do it and get away with it.

She can't be your childminder unless she is registered.

She could be your nanny, but you would need to pay at least minimum wage, plus employers NI etc.

Childcare swaps between friends is fine, see this exemption order.

The problem in this case is that you are proposing to pay your neighbour.
The only way around that legally is to have your neighbour as your nanny but then national minimum wage and other things apply.

Why not ask your neighbour where she shops and buy her supermarket vouchers say £70 a week.
Or just pay her cash it's nobody's business.

Is this a normal wage for a childminder in London? I don't want to underpay my neighbour, but nor do I want to end up paying more than I would if DD was in nursery instead.

This neighbour is NOT A CHILDMINDER It really annoys me when people refer to a friend who is not correctly Registered with Ofsed and has no qualifications, no First Aid, no Insurance a Childminder. Grrrrrr.

This person should not be paid full stop. She could do it at your house as a Nanny you could then Employ her as such and pay her Tax and NI and at least £10 per hour in London.

A good Ofsted registered Childminder could cost anything from £4 to £8 per hour it depends where in London.

On the South Coast I pay £4.50 ph for a 2 and a half yr old.