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?

my lovely cm only charges £3.50/hr inc meals but I pay into a separate fund for trips out.
if your cm charges £7 does that still make them cheaper than nurseries or are the nurseries dawn saaf charging even more? (curious)

It isnt an hourly rate of pay anyway, just what they charge for 1 child.

Thanks georgimama, yes I was being thick - of course if you are self-employed there would not be a "minimum wage" . Seems to me though that looking after someone else's child is a huge responsibility (as well as a demanding job) and deserves more than £3.50 an hour.

I'm feeling really lucky now. My fab childminder only charges £3 per hour. I've never really thought about the price before we use her because she is great and the DDs love her.

It does but I'm not going to be the first to volunteer to pay more!

My CM is like that though and that's why I like a CM rather than a nursery, when DS is with her he is part of a big crazy extended family with loads of kids older than him who totally dote upon him. He loves it and it is so good for his development and confidence.

If my CM was to put her rates up I wouldn't bat an eyelid, but I don't earn a huge amount myself.

thank you all for your input. I am not about to change cm, i just wondered if it was the norm to charge more for a baby.

Of course i understand that they are more work, and explained that to my friend. I just feel a bit uneasy that cm is going to charge friend £1 more an hour than me and friend is asking how much i pay (which i'm not prepared to tell) I feel a bit stuck in the middle as cm is a friend too.

Someone asked about the cost relative to a nursery. the going rate for a day at a nursery round here is £38-£48 a day all inclusive, so actually cheaper, and no need to find holiday cover etc.

my fab CM charges £3 ph inc lunch but £3-3.50 is the going rate in this area. I would happily pay her more though - she is worth it!

Mine charges £3 per hour, with an extra £1.50 for tea (dd is only there after school)

Yes it's less than minimum wage and I can see how CM's could struggle if they only had one or two mindees but mine is pretty much full all the time and does rather well out of it imo.

my cm charges £3.50 an hour or £30 a day (manchester)

I pay £4 an hour for my youngest who goes to nursery in the afternoon. She takes and picks him up and I pay her for those hours. I then pay £5 and hour for my oldest who she picks up at the same time as my LO. I have her for 4 days a week, seven and a half ours a day and pay £160.

In the school holidays I have to pay her £4 an hour for each child and so end up paying her £240 for 4 days. This is when I really struggle to pay and feel as if I'm only working to pay her.

Im in Walton upon thames and i charge £5.50ph, with discounts for siblings. that includes breakfast, trips, and baby wipes. lunch is optional, either bring their own or ours is £1 and tea is charged at £1.50.

i do work alongside my friend whose a registered childminder too so thats why we charge a bit more (average round here is £5ph) and also cos we are DCE qualified and have been nannies for 6yrs so we have that experience too.

I charge the same regardless of age (or relationships to other mindees)

You'll never believe it but around here people are charging £2.50! an hour. Don't know how they do it! But then i think they charge £2 a day for food.
I'm charging £3.50 an hour with food included! But not nappies, wipes, formula, nappy bags.
It does vary greatly around the country.

£3.50 an hour is that all? I pay my babysitter more than that. Am truly shocked that some of you are working hard for only £3.50

I suppose you have to work it out as hourly wage per child * number of children. I'm not sure what the limit is for cm but say 5 children at £4/hr. That's £20/hr and quite a tidy sum in my opinion.

Not a cm btw. just nosy

My childminder charges £3.50 and that includes breakfast lunch and sometimes dinner plus outings i only have to give extra money if i want my dd to have spending money my cm is a gem btw Im in scotland

Remember out of that you have to take your expenses (which are quite considerable)

Plus you can have 3 children during the day, and 3 more out of school - so your senario only works for some hours of the day

I pay £4.50, which works out cheaper then nursery here. My ds was in nursery and now with a cm, mine is a gem and would not put him back in nursery for the world!!

He is also part of a huge extended family, and adores going there.