Childcare Costs

[McMum2b]

Hi, me and my partner have decided to start trying for a baby which I'm over the moon about but I've been looking at childcare and it actually makes me wonder if I can afford to have a baby as I don't know how I am going to be able to afford nursery or a childminder. Unfortunately my Mum has passed away and my Dad lives too far away and my other halfs parents are unable to help.

I know a lot of people say there is never a time that you can afford a baby but for a local I'm looking at around £600 a month and we just don't have that kind of money.

My Maternity leave is only 6 weeks and then I am hoping I will be able to work from home full time for a month and then drop to 3 days and home and then 2. It is difficult though as I am on the phone to clients and candidates all day. I am also unable to be a stay at home mum as again I can't afford to do so.

Any advise would be much appreciated.

Thanks x

What does your dh earn?
What do you earn?
What are your (both of you) outgoings??

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Tax free childcare

I earn 24k plus commission, my other half is 30k plus yearly bonus.
All of our outgoing together are around £2400 a month.

Thank you

There is help out there, you will get child benefit, and can apply for universal credits to help with costs you have to pay the invoice first and then they give you up to 80% back, you can sign up to tax free childcare vouchers this is where you pay 80% and the government tops it up by 20%. Then once they are 3 you will get the 15 or 30 hours funded hours depending on how many hours you work a week and if eligible funding from age two. Childminders are generally cheaper than nurserys but with both you will most likely have to pay in advance and you will pay for any sick or holiday days you take. Some also charge a deposit to secure your space.

It is expensive, there's no getting round that. I work 3 days a week and we were paying around £600 a month in nursery fees but this has dropped to £30 a month now she has turned 3 and we get the free hours so it's not forever (though DD2 starts in Feb so it will be as bad again!). Can you start saving now? Also as a PP said, tax free childcare helps a little bit.

I'm sorry but I'm not sure wfh with a baby is a practical solution. There's no way I could have with either of mine and they were very easy babies.

Check if your workplace does a salary sacrifice scheme, my does and we save 35% doing it that way.

Also employers are usually quite flexible with families now, can you and DP do compressed hours over 4 days and have a set day off each to reduce nursery days? We both do this, DP has Tuesday off and me Wednesday.

Does reducing your hours work out cheaper than an extra nursery day

Look at the government childcare scheme (cant do with salary sacrifice aswell) they pay 20%

Start saving now to reduce outgoings when you put baby in nursery.

Lots of options 😊

Are you in the UK? You know you are entitled by law to a year off, and will get statutory maternity pay up to 39 weeks after your baby is born? The 6 weeks is probably your employer’s enhanced mat leave period.

Taking the period of statutory mat pay could be more cost effective than full time nursery for a tiny baby.

Yep it’s expensive!!! Child minders tend to be cheaper. Could I work from home with a 6 month old- yep. Could I work from home with a 1yr old- hell no!

Tbh OP your outgoings seem high- is there a way to trim that down?

Thank you.
We are hoping my ot will be able to pay the majority of his debt off with his bonus in January. Has anyone else felt put off because of this?

Are you in the UK?

Are your outgoings inclusive of debt? If so clear it first, then could you afford childcare?
I would point out that childcare is expensive but the costs never really go away. Once they start school they finish at 3pm- most jobs don’t. School activists, meals, uniform etc.

yes the outgoing are inclusive of his debt. luckily my work are very understanding and would allow me to leave earlier for school run or I am happy to look at an hours childcare in the morning and afternoon.

Thank you.
Both of our jobs offer the childcare vouchers and mine would allow me to work from home for a day or so a week but as someone else has mentioned, trying to work from home with a 1 year old will not be easy. I was considering using a days holiday a week for a period of time. I'm sure there is a way around it and I'm probably overthinking but it is just something I am concerned about

Childcare vouchers are open to new members but you can use tax free childcare x

yes I am based in the UK. We would really struggle on statutory mat pay. It is something I have looked into. thank you

Is condensed hours something your or DH work would consider? DH and I both did 4 long days and DC1 did nursery 3 days a week. We waited until DC1 was in school until TTC DC2.

Condensed hours weren’t possible then because we needed to be able to do school drop off and pick ups so we chose a childminder for DC2, school hours and worked drop offs and pick ups between us. Childminders by us is much cheaper than nursery. 7 hours a day is £30 with her. Nurseries are all £60 a day.

The childcare vouchers will also make a difference.

I would plan to pay off all debt, get a house with a mortgage (if you don’t already have one), save enough money to cover baby stuff (this doesn’t have to be much) and shortfall in income during maternity leave and then try for a baby. Baby’s are expensive and children continue to be, so you want to be in the best financial position possible first. Also, if you are in any way planning to compromise your working life / career / earning potential or doing any more than 50% of the childcare, I would get married too.

Just to add, you haven’t mentioned how old you are but we also delayed TTC until we were debt free and had a mortgage and fairly decent jobs. I would have preferred to be a younger mum but I wanted to be financially secure.

Childcare vouchers closed to new members at least a year ago. Childcare choices will tell you what you can claim.
You need to check if settings near you take babies so young....childminders usually do but lots of nurseries dont.
Local charges vary.

I'm sorry, but you really will not find it easy to work from home and look after a 6week old, then baby, then toddler etc. especially if you say you have client calls etc. They need interaction, feeding, changing. And they will let you know, loudly. You cant let them scream whilst you're on a call. And you can't leave a toddler unsupervised.

@MeanMrMustardSeed gave sound advice.

I have a 4 Yr old and an 18 week old, there is no way in hell I would be able to wfh with them here. We saved so I can return to work in March - when baby will be 8 months. Its tight but we are managing fine (I get smp only) when I return we will use a childminder for 5 days a week with the baby, its £35 a day - minus tax free childcare makes it £28 a day. My annual salary is 25k - thats £96 a day, it makes sense to return to work in our case. Before we had ds1 we wondered how we could afford it, realised we wasted a lot of money on meals out/clothes/gin that you just don't spend when you have kids

fully aware of what a baby needs thank you but thanks for the advise

thank you that was really helpful @QforCucumber