Questions about hiring a Mother's Help

[SobranieCocktail]

I'm planning ahead for when DC3 is born in September, and have decided that it would be sensible to have some sort of help for a week or two (or three!).

I think my ideal set up would be to have someone help with childcare for DD (will be 4.5) and DS (will be 3), walk them to/from nursery, basic hoovering and dusting, maybe some easy food prep. Hours would be 2-3 per day for 5 days a week to start with (maybe fewer hours per week as I get into the swing of things again).

Can anyone tell me:

Whether the above set-up is a normal/reasonable request?

What typical hourly rates might be in Edinburgh?

Whether it's acceptable to hire a Mother's Help temporarily, rather than permanently?

Are there any employer's NI or tax implications?

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Oh great! I'll definitely keep you posted if I find someone. Do you know what to expect in terms of the hourly rate? If it's too much, I might have to scrap the idea now

You could try a post-natal doula, but I think they're probably quite expensive, £8-£10 an hour? Otherwise try putting an add up in local shop windows or on netmums, maybe you'll find a gran or mum with secondary school age kids who wants a bit of extra money. If there's a FE college near you contact the childcare department, maybe they could recommend a student looking for work in the afternoons.

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I don't know rates in Edinburgh. Try contacting some of the people advertising on Gumtree, to see what they want. For example, found this recent advert for someone offering what you want (I think) - Edinburgh Nanny House Help
Another one if the hours fit around their existing job.

Temp contract I would have thought would be fairly typical - probably best to make people aware that it could be only for a few months.

Tax and NI will apply if any of the following are true:

Weekly pay is above the NICs Lower Earnings Limit - HMRC Rates: NIC - currently £90 per week, rises to £95 per week for 09/10 tax year.

The person has another job.

So I would expect that due to the hours you initially require, plus the part-time nature of the work, both of the above will apply, so Tax/NI needs to be done. However you are likely to be paying below £160 a week, thus could use Simplified PAYE.

Christiana - depends on the doula, but generally they're there to support the mother in everything she does. Baby care and breastfeeding support/advice, childcare for older siblings, a bit of housework or cooking or shopping.

I would think £6 an hour for a student would be fine - if you're wanting after-college hours a childcare student could be a good bet, and they'll jump at the chance of newborn experience.