Pay for childminders

[girlygirl]

Be honest as a parent who uses a childminder.
Do you think they are worth between £2.50 and £2.75 per hour, or more or less?
Remember their day to day responsibilities, how easy it is looking after someone else's child, the wear and tear on their house, etc.
I am thinking about registering as a childminder in my area as there is a demand, but today I've just found out the hourly pay and I am SHOCKED. I know I can have more than one child but I only wanted 1 or 2 as I feel I can give better care to a small group by myself rather than up to 6!!!But going by the measly hourly rate I think I'll not bother...

[RTKangaMummy]

I don't know why

I can understand if CM have lots of mindees cos then they are all added together but when only 1 or 2

Why agree to be paid approx half the minimum wage per hour

Why think it is ok to pay so little?

We are told because of their wages are so low but don't understand how it is then worth it

[HappyMumof2]

Message withdrawn

[KatieMac]

If you have 2 children, and pay more than £3 per hr each - then if you earn the minimum wage you loose £1.15 an hr.

But if you are on a salary paying a reasonable wage then your c/mer should get a decent amount....but then there would be 2 (or more) classes of childminder one to ordinary workers(ie you or me) and one for proffessionals......

But 'most' parents want to pay as little as possible

[RTKangaMummy]

But

Would they agree to be paid such a low amount for their work?

Of course not

So why do they think it is ok to pay for someone to look after their child as a job and to only be paid half the minimum wage?

I don't really see how they see it as being fair

[KatieMac]

So as long as it somebody else that earns under the min wage that's OK......

BTW my Hrly wage (after expenses) this year will be £3.04 - and I regularily have 4-6 children.

I want the minimum wage.....

[RTKangaMummy]

I really don't know why parents think it is fair to pay so little for someone else to look after their most precious part of their family



And then spend money {twice as much} to a cleaner/gardener/etc

I don't do it for the money

Well obviously unless you charge more you can't possibly be doing CM for the money can you?

I do it because I love looking after children and teaching them

It makes me feel quite when I hear of CM just being paid £2 per hour

I think that is really taking the mick

My hairdresser only paid £1.75 per hour to his.

This is an important job so why not pay more?

[ssd]

I agree KM and RTKM. We are paid a pittance and expected to be Mary Poppins. The parents think we do it because we love all of their children so much, not because we need to earn a living....

[feelingold]

I am a childminder and I charge £2.60 per hour which is the going rate round here. Remember if you have 2 kids at the same time that's £5 per hour. I do it because it fits in with my kids (I am here to take to and pick up from school and here in the holidays)and I would not be able to get a job anywhere round here that would allow me to do this, so you do something you enjoy which also gives you a bit of extra cash, if you really need more than that you need to get a 'proper' job and then find childcare for your own kids. My parents (especially the mums) do not earn a lot of money in their jobs (about £5.60 per hour) and they pay me £2.60 per hour so they are also working for only £3.00 per hour so I would not dream of charging them anymore.
I know some parents earn a lot of money but you can not charge one parent a higher rate because they earn more can you?
My parents provide nappies etc, I provide snacks and drinks and I also charge 75p-£1 if they require me to provide a cooked meal.
I love being a childminder but I agree with you we are not paid well, but we all knew that before we started it didn't we?

[Enid]

I pay mine £5 per hour and she has both my kids. She comes to my house and I provide all food.

[Enid]

she gets cash in hand as well.

[RTKangaMummy]

I am glad that my DH has a good job

As mine is just for extra spending money

certainly not a wage

My old mindee family had one child and earnt over 80,000 nearer 90,000

[artyjoe]

Not wanting to be shot down or anything but...I think it depends on how you view yourself to be honest rather than what parents expect.

Having said that, I personally am not looking at childminding as a way to stay at home with my children, I am looking at it as an exciting new business venture that will hopefully bring me great personal reward with a view to eventually opening up a small nursery.

I will be registered soon and will charge £5 per hour and hope to have 3 children on board - I am based in Surrey.

[RTKangaMummy]

Yes I agree

but I do get cross when others say they are only paid below the Minimum wage

Why is that all that is paid?

I am above the minimum wage as I would not consider working for less

[Niddlynono]

I pay DS's childminder £6 p.h. (in London). She has him 1 day a week. She's not cheap but she is fantastic, DS adores her and I'm very happy and confident that he's in safe hands. If she has time she writes a diary of their day so I know exactly what he's been doing what he's eaten etc. which is lovely.

[RTKangaMummy]

I think it is certainly a job that is done for the love of it

I love teaching the mindees different things even building a tower of bricks or a jigsaw puzzle

Their faces when they achieve something they have been trying to do.

[KatieMac]

I work 52.5 hrs a week for 50 weeks a year.

I can regularily have 4 to 6 children. But I loose money on days like today. I had 2 children from 10 - 2 =£24 for the day.

So it average down so easily. Like Artyjoe I run a small business and I'm hoping to expand. But I did go into C/Ming for the money and would like to earn a decent amount. If I went out to work I wouldn't need to pay childcare and could earn far more - however health problems ensure that C/Ming is one of the few F/T jobs I could do.

I enjoy being my own boss - but resent the lack of respect from some parents. Others respect me and my proffession, why can't they all?

[RTKangaMummy]

The respect or lack of it is deffo the worst aspect of it

Why do parents think it is OK to treat us soooooo badly?

After all we are doing a very very very important job

[donnie]

I am not a childminder but I am interested in this thread and agree that double standards operate when it comes to people paying for childcare. They want the earth but don't want to pay for it.My dd goes to a childminder who charges £4.75 p/h ( in London) plus holiday and sick pay and I am happy to pay this as she is wort it and my dd loves her and is settled.I get so furious when people whine about someone who is charging less than the minimum wage. I have been reading a thread ( yesterday and today) where people are moaning about nannies being sick and having to pay them sick pay and I just feel the whole world seems to be full of skinflints and tightwads.Maybe I am overreacting!

[feelingold]

When I first started thinking about becoming a childminder I spoke to a few people who were already childminders and all of them told me that if I wanted to earn a lot of money childminding was not for me so I knew what I was letting myself in for, but I am not complaining as I need to be here for my kids in the holidays and it allows me to be whilst earning some extra cash which is always useful. Some of you obviously feel that you are not appreciated by your mindees parents, but I must say this is not how I feel. They always check with me before ageeing to do extra hours at work, are never late picking up their kids and are like friends.
I know I am very lucky as my mindees are great too, they make themselves completely at home and are very well behaved and have become like part of the family. The pay for childminders round here is anything from £2 to £3 per hour, which is very low, but then again the pay round here is lower than in other places as we are a small town. I think if you go into childminding it has to be something you really want to do and not something you think will make you lots of money, but having said that considering you are looking after the most 'precious thing' a parent has the
hourly rate is very low.

[ssd]

feelingold, I'm sorry but your post is confusing me. I didn't become a childminder to earn a whacking wage, but it sticks in my throat the fact that I'm a qualified nursery nurse, with lots of nanny experience, but I'm only paid £2.50 per hour as that is the going rate. It makes me feel undervalued and underpaid. So saying I'm not in it for the money is true, but I would still expect a decent hourly rate for a hard but important job,not an amount I would tip my paper lad for delivering the papers.

[feelingold]

ssd - I know that you have had to work hard to become a qualified nursery nurse and I agree that with the qualifications you have you should get more, but obviously when people are looking for a childminder they are not expecting to get or pay for a n.nurse. I am not saying that we are paid enough I just meant that for a lot of people (especially where I live in small town in the East Midlands) the rate charged is the rate people can afford as there are not a lot of highly paid jobs round here. Most of the childminders I know work for parents who have to go back to work out of necessity and not to further their career.
I think that maybe in different parts of the country this is not the case as wages are probably a lot higher so therefore childcare costs are a lot higher. I do not mean that I do not think we deserve to get paid more I just meant that I went into childminding knowing I wouldn't be getting a lot of money, but I do get a lot of job satisfaction.

[lisalisa]

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[lalaa]

In response to the original post, I think 2.50 is a poor rate, but, as has already been pointed out, it is market driven and if others locally, or the local nurseries are charging the same, and there isn't an overwhelming demand for childcare places, there doesn't seem to be much choice unless you get together with other childminders in the area and agree to work together to increase it.
I pay £3.50 an hour which includes food and play activities but not nappies and wipes. I pay for bank holidays and for holidays if we take them when our cm is available. I don't pay when she's on holiday. I do pay when dd is at nursery when she would otherwise be at the cm, and cm has dropped off and picked her up (which means my hourly rate is more like £8 in total for those four hours).
I couldn't afford it if it was more like £5 an hour and am timing the conception of my next child to fit in with nursery vouchers going live for dd! (My cm is accredited and can take them). My cm takes one other child of pre-school age and one or two of school age, and she earns more than I do. Can't say fairer than that really!

[ssd]

I do accept the rate is market driven. Also a childminder can take on more kids and earn more that way. I guess I'll just have to get on with it and stop moaning!!