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?!

@Cornflakes44 this is one of the reasons we took DD out of nursery! You have to pay for the full day regardless of the hours they're there if they are there even 15 mins over what they class as a "half day".

Childminder goes by the hour so this was best solution for us and honestly the best thing we ever did! Literally half the price and still get funded hours through them too

Honestly? Everyone I know went into debt - and we are talking decent middle earners here. Unless you want to drastically make three to four years of your life really miserable by being a total spendthrift, many of us just accepted the risk of going into debt with the ability to repay it once free hours / school started. You are relying on your circumstances not changing to repay it.
i live in a city so many of my friends and colleagues do not have family support - some leave because of it to be closer to family to try and save on costs.

Going to university however I appreciate that isn't a viable option for everyone but that's how we afford it

Yes and never has childcare been so expensive. When people are paying more for childcare than their mortgage it is a problem. Nearly £1000 a month for 3 days a week childcare is a massive amount of money.

Feel your pain. My nursery is £90 per day so full time is £1912.50pm. There are no private nurseries in my area that provide the funded hours except the council nursery - and their opening hours dont work if you do a regular 9-5.

We had no holidays/many luxuries as considered it a short term finance. Then wrap around childcare. We thought it would be easier as Ds got older. As he got older, cost of living has ramped up. Our one overseas holiday with Ds got cancelled in covid snd the money topped up furlough, home repairs.
We both worked full time and wiped out savings etc, had debt etc. I’ve always paid for childcare, aside from a few occasional days, never relied on anyone else.
Ds was a surprise after being told I’d not conceive. We moved to a much nicer area, into a house with better schools and opportunities for him to do more sports etc. In some ways, I v occasionally miss the small mortgage in my old flat and I DEFINITELY miss the holidays and lifestyle we had as a couple, but Ds is the absolute light of my life.
Childcare is enormous in the U.K. and so most are mindful of the financial implications before having a child, but sometimes life changes in ways that are unexpected. I considered working just nights snd weekends to cut down our childcare bills. We still generally split out the many school holidays between us to limit holiday clubs, although now Ds is older, but I don’t want him by himself for most of the holidays.

I reduced my hours to work three days a week and used a childminder (3x10 hour sessions).

She charged £4 an hour so £120 a week, an average of £500 a month.

And then once the 30 free hours kicked in we didn’t have to pay anything.

What she means is they earn more than the average income/household...All of us have to pay 50% in childcare

My situation is the same, over £1800, so I work 4 days, so I don't have to spend too much

People on that salary are considered well off. It's just that childcare is ridiculously expensive

Agree with you, we are forced out of higher pay

68k a is the awkward spot though..too high for any help, not that high by today's standards.

34k a year would not be a great deal more than the starting/trainee salary in a lot of professions, and i think there would be an expectation you'd want to progress a bit & save up before starting a family.

My first is going to reception this year and my second baby is going to be 1 next month.In all honesty i have decided to give up work for a year so I don't need to pay for childcare.When she's 2 next year she will be entitled to 30h and then I will go back to work.We are budgeting no fancy holidays, clothes our car is over 10 years old.We want buy a bigger olhouse but that won't happen until I go back to work.