Is £5 an hour reasonable for a cm?

[Thrifty]

for an under 1yr old, for 2x10hour days a week, doesn't include food, milk nappies etc?

and do childminders in general charge more for an under 1yr?

Depends where you live. Around here that's a BARGAIN!

in my area thats expensive! im in leicestershire and going rate is about 4-4.50 per hour

i cannot imagine a childminder would charge more for an under one as that child would still be on a 1-6 ratio as they are only alloowed one baby under 1 anyway!

not in london, but in the south east.

In my area, surrey berkshire its about average.

NN I have friends in Weybridge who are full charging £6.50-£7!!!

yes,bonkerz thats what i thought. i recommended my cm to a friend who is returning to work. cm has had ds for about 2 years,and charges me £4 ph(went up last year). she is asking friend for £5ph.

Perhaps she'd rather not have a baby because they are harder work, or perhaps she's found out everyone charges near £5 per hour so is putting all her new children on that rate?

maybe cargirl, thats what i said (obviously didnt let on what i was paying) but felt a bit for my friend,tis hard enough going back to work.

I'm in south-east and charge £4 for any age - would be delighted with £5 an hour though

I am in the south east and that is what I charge, but I include food (but not formula) and include nappies etc

I'm in the South East and charge £5 ph. The cost of living and running a business from home using utilities and supplying meals, I wouldn't be able to make ends meet if I charged any less.

My childminder is 3.50 hr which looks like it is a bargain x

Mine is £6 an hour for my two girls, (3 and 1.7), exclusive of food and nappies and any activities/outings she takes them to.We are in Herts.She is bargainous for round here!

I'm in Berkshire and that would be extortionate. I charged between £3 and £4 an hour.Look up www.childcarelink.gov.uk and ask a few other CMs, see what going rate is

if a child leaves and another joins, i sometimes put up the rate if it is close to the time when i usually do so ie July each year. also i had realised i was undercharging so bumped up my fees by about 10% last year.

there is a fine balance between valuiing yourself and charging a fair rate!

jesus I would love £5 per hour - its what we're worth!!!

But sadly the most you can get round here is £3.50....

Looks like when your contracts up for renewal you'll be paying a fiver too!

in leeds average charge is 3 to 3.50 ph some mad heads charge 2.50 an hour still as they have had mindees for years and r scared tobput prices up would be lovelyb to charge 4 o 5 pound ph

I Birmingham, and the going rate is 3 pound an hour, thats what I charge with meals included.

Blimey, my CM charges £3.25 per hour including lunch, tea, and an embarrassing array of activities.

I am in Eastbourne and my CM charges £4 per hour, which has just gone up from £3.80
All ages are the same hourly rate.

I provide meals and nappies etc, but she pays for them to go out on trips/excursions.

Sorry if I'm being thick but isn't that below the minimum wage??? I've never had a child minder myself and I do live in London, but I know people who are CMs and charge £6.50 - £7 an hour.

CMs are not employees, they contract their services. Minimum wage does not apply.

If they have got more than one child at a time how can minimum wage be a problem, because it all adds up.

My council shows the average, lowest and higest rates charged in each area so that us newer cm's have a range to work within. Depending largely on area and number of CM's the rates differ a fair bit. In my area the lowest charge is £4 and the highest is £7.50. However, in another area the rate is lower by .50p to £1 odd each way. I am sure most co. co's will provide this info for all you other CM's in your areas if you ask.