How does anyone afford childcare!!

[Char1997]

Hello,

I know there’s lots of discussion about this always but I am currently on maternity leave with my second and working out childcare costs to return to work at the end of the year/beginning of next year and for me to go back to my job full time it’s going to cost me £1800 a month!!
How on earth does anyone afford that but then on the other hand how does anyone afford to not return to work with two children?! Just seems insane to me that anyone can afford to live, buy essentials when needed, go to work full time PLUS pay that obscene amount of money?!

bigger age gaps, going part time, staying home for a few years, parental help etc it’s a hard one.

So we’ve got a 4 year age gap anyway so would only have to cover after school club for our eldest but that’s still nearly £300 a month! I would happily stay home until my youngest gets 30 hours funded but then how do people survive off of one salary!

reducing Outgoings I suppose. No afterschool or childcare bill if someone is home.

I guess the answer is planning! If you want to keep your career going post early years you need to be realistic that that is your goal, and make sacrifices for it. Financially I’ve a lot of friends who were no better off for working but did it because they were thinking of the end goal. That doesn’t help single mums I know! It’s hard - and I am cross the government doesn’t do more. If they did give more early years childcare support I think we’d all benefit and the women who give up their careers would go onto pay more taxes if they didn’t!

Help from grandparents a day a week
Return to work part time
Then had another baby age 2-3 so could use free hours once I returned to work second time around.

Prices have gone up in the last couple of years though. Now I'd probably consider a break from my career. Or just 2 days a week

Your lucky as you are going to benefit from the new funding plus you may be eligible for tax free funding.

Last time we were so lucky as our daughters was looked after by different members of our family 4 days a week and then went to nursery funded once she was 3 so we have never incurred these childcare costs before :( gosh it’s difficult isn’t it!

Yes we will! 15 hours from January 2026 and then 30 from the January 2026 - he misses out on the September funding start by 12 days 🥲

Honest answer? We researched childcare costs before having our dd, saved some money before we ttc and planned our work hours to maximise earnings and minimise childcare costs. Before we had our second DC we did the calculations again and wouldn’t have had him if we couldn’t have afforded it. By the time he goes to nursery next year we will get more funded hours, and our dd will be at school.

I’ve got a three year old and now pregnant with my second. I had a bigger gap deliberately to avoid double nursery.

It’s a joint cost if in a couple and it’s generally considered before conception. It is also a relatively short term cost.

of course it’s a joint cost in a couple. But that’s still £900 each for full time childcare which seems insane. Paying £900 for someone else to care for my child. Obviously was discussed before conception but we were trying for a long time AND the costs around our area have gone up a LOT since we started trying. For example, we used to pay around £90 a month in consumables fee when our daughter was at private nursery 30 hours funded a year ago but that cost at the same nursery is now £160.

Funded hours and help with childcare from UC for me. I couldn’t work without it.
obviously it all depends on your income.

I got into debt. DD was in year 5 when I paid off her nursery fees.

My son goes to a childminder rather than a nursery as it was significantly cheaper. Thankfully he's hit his 30 free hours now but before that it was £800 a month.

The answer to these "how does anyone afford..." threads is the always the same. Because they have more money than you.

I had twins 😳

I took a bank loan over 10 years to enable the cost to be spread

that’s what baffles me though! myself and my partner are on decent salaries and even with that it’s just a cost that is crazy!

I cut down to part time. Kids in nursery 2 days a week and grandparents had them 1 day a week. My job isn't what you'd consider a career so it didn't pay to go back full time.

oh my goodness!!! see debt for us isn’t a solution for us :(

What are your salaries @Char1997

£68 a day here. We managed it by sending DS to inlaws two days a week, I only worked four days a week, DH only worked four days a week. We did this until we got the 30 hours.

oh my gosh! doesn’t that just seem insane that you had to get it to debt to be able to return to work and pay for childcare!! Debt to be able to afford to live!

It’s bonkers isn’t it. My son’s full time nursery place costs us just under £19k a year. It is our largest outgoing, more than our mortgage. Fees have gone up loads here too - 27% in the last two years.

£68K combined, both bringing home just over £2K a month so more than a lot of other people! Obviously not raking it in and living in luxury but we are fine!