Could somone give me a rough idea on childcare costs with a childminder ?

[FoghornLeghorn]

Dh & I are currently looking into childcare options to enable DH to go back to work (I work full time at present, DH stays home with the DC's).

I have no clue whatsoever on childcare costs - could someone give me a rough idea what we would be looking at ?

You need to put your area on (costs vary widely)

Ages of DC's and how much care you need, allday / part time / Term Time / Holiday club etc

I'm sure some minders will give you a rough idea then.

Thankyou

I am in Northampton. DD2 is 3 so in pre-school half days, DD1 is 20 months so would need full time.

I'm hoping we could work holiday etc around school holidays to elimate those issues.

I pay £200/ week for 8 hours per day, 5 days per week in Surrey. (£5/hour)

Oh and use childcare vouchers at £243/month taken from my salary (max allowed) pre tax - it saves about £70/month.

Oh yes, my company do those but don't really understand, must admit ! God, I need to do my research

We used to pay £40 a day in North London from 8 - 6

wow that's cheap. I pay £40/day from 7.50-3.50.

Vouchers are easy. They take up to 243 (you sign up for how much you want to take out) out of your paycheque before tax (so, gross), then tax you on the rest of your pay and the money they've taken out goes into a voucher and can only be redeemed by an ofsted registered childcarer. My cm and I have set up so it goes directly into her bank account on a set day each month (warning: Set this up in advance and "save" one month's worth of vouchers in advance so that you can be sure it will go to your carer on time. Sometimes there is a delay with them. If you're one month ahead it's never late). It saves me £70/month.

You may well have to pay when DD2 is at pre-school, I charge when mindees are at pre-school as I couldn't fill the space, I think most minders are the same / similar so worth costing in. You could also use an accredited CM so that you can transfer your nursery grant over.

Best thing to do really is contact a few in your area and find out what they charge. Some also charge a fee over holidays if you have a Term Time only contract.

There are many things to consider when comparing childcare costs - what is included in the rate?

~ Food
~ Nappies/wipes
~ Outings
~ Fees for toddler groups etc.
~ Holiday pay (your time off and the childminders)
~ Extra-hours charges - some settings have a premium rate for additional hours/late pickups etc.
~ Late-payment fees

It is important to try and work out the total cost of the childcare and not just look at the hourly rate charged by the childminder/nursery etc.

I strongly recommend that you research voucher options through your employer. Most settings will accept them and it is a valuable saving which is there for you to take - I do not understand why more people do not use them to pay their providers!

In our area, rates (that I know of) vary from £3.50 to £5.25 per hour but those at the higher end of the scale tend to include more things.

£3.25 per hour in Warwickshire (no penalty charges for going 10 minutes over) and £4 in Basingstoke (£6 per hour before 7.30am or after 6pm) for 2yo. I supply nappies, wipes and bottles of milk. They supply snacks/lunch.