Charges for multiples

[ViewsAreMine]

Hi,

How do childminders structure their charges? Is it per hour for each child? What if you've got more than how child from the same family? I'm trying to work out why they're more expensive than nannies (hourly rate)

Every CMer is self employed, so will set their own contracts, but they are more expensive than nannies because the have all the overheads that a nanny doesn't. A Nanny works in your home, and you pay all the bills on top. A CMer works in her home and therefore is responsible for all expenses.

Most childminders change by the hour and some for the day per child. You may get lucky and be offered a slight sibling discount but it’s not something everyone offers as siblings are hard work and if they leave that’s then two spaces to fill. Childminders are self employed and usually don’t charge for there sickness, holiday, but everyone is different but all will charge for the child’s sickness and holiday. Usually childminders are cheaper compared to a nursery and nanny’s are cheaper if you have more than one child but if they work solely for you, you will have to pay them holiday, maternity, sickness, pensions and NI. Nannies don’t have to be registered with Ofsted so if they are not then you will not be able to use childcare vouchers, tax free vouchers and they also can not offer the funded hours at all.

Per child. If you have 3 children going to the same childminder then you are using 3 of her spaces, so you need to pay per child.

It depends where you are, in my area childminders are £4 to £5 an hour so cheaper for 2 children than nannies as you dont pay national insurance, pension, sick pay, maternity pay etc. Let alone feeding them and your children or heating your house.
Discounts are down to individual minders but your taking up spaces and increasing their risk of you not paying or leaving and siblings tend to be harder than non related children through squabbling and competing for parents attention as soon as they arrive extending the working day.

I wouldn’t/don’t offer a discount for siblings either. As others have said, they are often harder work and you risk loosing your whole business if they leave (this is just happening to a minder near me who had 3 siblings under school age, 4 days a week and they are now moving. She is left with no children, so no money and it’s actually harder to get a child when you haven’t got any on your books at the moment as people wonder why you’ve lost the others so quickly.

Essentially, the 'product' a childminder has to 'sell' is a limited number of childcare spaces. Manydo not offer sibling discounts because it doesn’t matter whether they sell these to one family or many. A nanny is directly employed b6 the family, so they are 'selling' their time, largely irrespective of the number of children involved.

I can see some efficiencies in having siblings, which could amount to a case for a discount. But I can see many more risk factors, which could just as easily amount to a case for a CM charging a premium for siblings.

I don’t quite get the point about comparative costs. In the areas I know, allowing for all the employer’s responsibilities, a nanny costs 3-5 times what a CM costs.