How on earth does anyone afford a nanny ... feeling despondent!

[RooTwo]

We are looking for a part time nanny for our 2 year old and I'm just feeling so despondent about the costs. How does anyone afford this?? It's going to eat into most of my salary.... we need a nanny rather than a childminder as we need someone to pick up our older 2 from school as well. So we are looking at £11/12 an hour net; it's just so much money! Do I just grin and bear it and accept it's just for a reasonably short period of time? My daughter can go to school nursery next Sept ...

Hi where are you based as that is a lot for a nanny. I am a nanny with nearly 20 yrs experience in all areas of childcare and I get £10 net a hour and I don't know any nannies who get more than that unless in the middle of London. Most nannies are on approx £8-10 net an hour. (Always remember to offer gross not net) how about a nanny who brings their own child with them? They will be slightly cheaper.

Hi asg198 we are in London - 11-12 net def seems to be the going rate. I can't have a nanny with own child really as I think 3 children is enough of a handful!

We pay our nanny £11.50 net outside London in SE. It is pretty common here. It is crazily expensive once you've added in employer NI, paying their insurance and sometimes yours too, first aid courses, petty cash, food, ...

But for us it is the only way we can function as a family.

Is there a childminder who can have your little one and also do the school pick up?

We've had a nanny too and it is very useful in school holidays I must admit, north east though so lower pay. My youngest will be at school in September and I can't wait for the reduction in childcare costs!

With three children a nanny is a viable option but you do need to compare with other things that might work such as childminder and before/after school and school holiday clubs.

Tax Free Childcare scheme starts sometime next year which with 3 children could be worth upto £6000 (subject to eligibility and childcare costs). Will you be eligible for that? Both parents have to be earning under £100k and children have to be under age 12.

What start and finish times do you need? A childminder could be a viable option and may cost less.

I need someone from 8 or 8.30 till 6.30 nannynick - I've looked into childminders but had no luck finding anyone and it's v hard to find someone who will pick up from school. I think a nanny is really the only way to make our lives manageable! If I could find a brilliant childminder round the corner I would probably go for that (plus before/after school clubs) but sadly I am yet to find that person. Also the thing that is nice about having a nanny is that the little one and the big ones are together in that after school period - the little one loves her bro and sis so much!

Also in terms of agreeing gross, how do I go about that? Sorry I know there are probably a zillion threads on this ... I am thinking 10/11 net so that makes 13/14 ish gross ...??

We pay £8ph net, but worked out what the gross would be for that so the salary is quoted in gross, meaning we don't absorb any tax rises. Are you eligible for tax credits? We use an ofsted registered nanny so we can claim some (about 1/2) of the cost back.

I know it seems a lot but she is looking after 3 kids once older two come out of school. Paying a nursery or cm for 3 kids would probably work out a lot more expensive in London.

Do you get tax credits or does your employers do childcare vouchers? You could get up to 70% of childcare paid for if your nanny is registered.

Childminders round here can charge £5+ per hour. So your nanny would work out cheaper than that.

How about getting a childminder to have the baby. Send older DC to breakfast and afterschool clubs and have as student or similar collect them from after school club and take them to your house until 6.30? Then during holidays send them all to childminder (you would have to pay a retainer to keep their places for the holidays)

Do you have the room for live in? That is much cheaper

10 hours per day, 5 days per week, so 2600 per 52 week year (payroll is done on a 52 week year).

(Net to Gross calculation by UK Salary Calculator for iOS)

At 11 net per hour:

£28,600 net per annum.
1100L tax code (this is the assumed tax code, the actual code could vary)
Tax Year: 2016/17
Gross salary £37,401.18
Employers NI: £4,041.91
Gross hourly: £14.38

With a full time job you can agree a Net salary but I would aim to agree Gross. You could look at something like £14 gross per hour, or £14.25 gross per hour, or something like that, or agree an annual gross of say £37,400.

At 10 net per hour:

£26,000 net per annum.
1100L tax code (this is the assumed tax code, the actual code could vary)
Tax Year: 2016/17
Gross salary £33,577.65
Employers NI: £3514.26
Gross hourly: £12.91

How does it compare with a childminder?

Lets say the childminder is £6 per hour, per child and does not give any deduction for when they or you are on holiday (In reality, if you went away at the same time as the childminder, then you may not pay anything for that period of time).

Lets say term time is 38 weeks and that you needed 1 hour in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon for the 2 school aged children.

During Term Time:
School child: 5 hours x £6 per hour = £30 per day. 5 days = £150
Toddler: 10 hours x £6 per hour = £60. 5 days = £300.
Total per week: £600

School Holidays:
Per child: 10 hours x £6 per hour = £300
Total per week: £900

£600 x 38 = £22,800
£900 x 14 = £12,600
Total before additional expenses: £35,400

Compared with a nanny at £12.91 gross per hour:
£37,091.91 before additional expenses.

Lots of other things to consider though, such as the pros and cons of having someone come to your home. Children doing after school activities/clubs.

Thanks so much nannynick this is SO helpful!!

Clacks we don't have space for a live in otherwise we would have one, or an aupair ...

To have a take home salary of £41,500 a parent would need a Gross salary of £58,678.

How does someone afford a nanny? They have a well paid job.

Looking at Tax Free Childcare it looks like you would get:

Childcare Cost:
Gross salary £37,401.18
Employers NI: £4,041.91
Payroll Admin: £200
Total childcare cost for claim: £41,643.09

Amount paid into each child fund: £8000
Government amount paid per child: £2000
Total: £30,000 (£2500 per month)
Parent pays nanny directly: £28,600

Therefore adjustment needs to occur...

Amount paid into each child fund: £7944
Government amount paid per child: £1588.80
Total per child: £9532.80
Nanny paid from account: £28,571.40
Parent pays nanny direct: £28.60
Parent pays Employers NI of: £4041.91
Parent pays payroll admin of £200

Cost to parent:
£7944 * 3 = 23,832 plus £28.60 + £4041.91 + £200 = £28,102.51

How exactly the scheme will work is unknown but this is based on what I know so far. With luck the child funds won't have to be of equal amounts, so it may be possible to do:
£8000 + £8000 + £7833 = £23,833 + 20% Government = £28,599.60
Cost to parent:
£23833 plus £0.40 + £4041.91 + £200 = £28,075.31

This scheme won't be operational for another year but is something to keep in mind.

Think that last bit is wrong:

How exactly the scheme will work is unknown but this is based on what I know so far. With luck the child funds won't have to be of equal amounts, so it may be possible to do:
£8000 + £8000 + £6880 = £22,880 + Government Topup of £5720 = £28,600
Cost to parent:
£22880 + £4041.91 + £200 = £27,121.91

I wouldn't rule out a nanny share or nanny with own child - certainly worth considering it.

Sympathies. I earn in the high five figures and worked out that after tax, pension and a nanny I was taking home around £6 per hour. It caused me to completely re-evaluate my career and I now work for part of the week at home, for less money - but I have more in my pocket at the end of the week as no childcare.

Define "part-time"?

Have you got space for an au pair? It might be cheaper to have an au pair and put your 2yo into nursery now, to be picked up at lunchtime and then taken on the school run when your older children finish school? If they typically do camps and activities in the school holidays then you can get away with not going over his/her allotted hours.

Its not ideal but yes it is damn expensive to have a nanny. A CM will have to watch his/her ratios as two older children in school will use up two "places"

I wouldn't look on it in terms of how much of your salary it eats up.

Combine your salaries and look at your disposable income. Can you afford it? If so, then what's the issue?

No doubt I will get flamed for suggesting it but here goes - Also consider whether you need a qualified nanny or someone who is nice, has common sense and you can get a CRB check and references for. I had two ladies each for 4 years who were brilliant, were not qualified but were young and bright and great with my from the age of 1-recenlty. One was a friend one of my friend's childcarer (ie doing a nanny job but without a childcare certificate) and the other I found on gumtree (she had been an au pair for a year before). Very few people can afford the sort of sums talked about as the "norm" for nannies in and around London but if you look people are still working (despite often being told on mn they shouldn't if they can't afford £30-40K per year out of their post-tax salary) and have full time childcare.

You could look for a trainee norland nanny or a just qualified one. A bit cheaper but have been through plenty of childcare experience. If you're in London then you shd be quite popular.