Childcare costs unaffordable for 2/3 families - govt helping?

[BrummieOnTheRun]

From The Times today:

"Research, carried out by the Daycare Trust, suggests that full-time nursery care is now not affordable for at least two-thirds of families. Parents in the Home Counties have been worst hit, with bills stretching to £375 a week.
[...]
Beverley Hughes, the Children's Minister said: "We do appreciate the impact that childcare costs can have on the family budget of lower-income families but we are doing more than ever to make good quality childcare and early education accessible and affordable."

full article here

Cheers, Bev!

Well after my thread last week when I realised I was going to have to earn £40-45k gross JUST to cover the cost of childcare (3 under school age), I think the govt should be told that this isn't just a low-income issue. I see no sign of govt help for normal working families.

I am e-mailing her. If anyone else would like to enlighten her as to the impact of childcare costs and lack of govt support, her parliamentary e-mail address is available on her website. Just google her.

Nice idea, Anniemac. I tried moving to a cheaper area, and while the childcare reduced by £15/child/day, the salaries reduced by £15k pa.

Changing my career to something more interesting than telecoms (I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than deal with networks for the rest of my life) means an even greater salary drop - interesting sectors pay less, and you lack experience to command good salaries.

Starting your own business with 2 pre-school children and no childcare is virtually impossible. If you do pay for childcare it's out of zero income. AND NOT TAX-DEDUCTABLE...WHY NOT????

I'm sure there are ways of doing it, but I'll be buggered if I've found them yet!

We moved from SE England back to Scotland and stay in not that nice an area but it means we have a decent sized house we can (just about) afford on DP's income. It means I have the "luxury" of being a SAHM.

I have totally screwed up my career now though but something had to give. Having anymore than one child and living in London was just not going to work. Plus did I really want to have a baby then not see it for 12 1/2 hours a day as to afford anything house wise would have meant a huge commute each day too.

I think you've done right sweetkitty. I know nothing is ever perfect, but FWIW I would swap with you. And I've only got 2 kids.

By all accounts, there's been a massive exodus out of London in the past year. Childcare costs and the schooling issue will be a major part of that. I think it's a shame for London, actually. They'll be left with the super rich families and families on benefits/in social housing and nothing in between.

massive exodus of families, I meant

Anniemac you may have hit on a good point. But I haven't dared look at the options yet. There may be a thread about it one day....

We would consider moving to another EU nation.

Quite seriously.

Judging from the house prices in London, I daresay there is still plenty of demand. A pity really, I'd light to see the market crash and burn. Then I could buy a small closet.

You gotta draw the line somewhere and cut your losses at one point.

like not light.

Freudian slip.

I hate to say this but if you have 3 children so close together and they are all under school age then I think you just have to accept that working may not be an option for a few years. It's hard, but you know that before you go ahead and have children don't you? It's not something you only think about after the event, surely?

I had 3 under school age too and I couldn't afford to go out to work but that's nobody else's problem but mine really - I made the choice to have them and I knew the difficulties that lay ahead.

I'm not saying, btw, that there shouldn't be more tax breaks etc but there is only so much help you are ever going to get. Whatever the government offer it's not going to be equivalent to the amount you really need. So the same choices would probably still have to be made.

Uwila - I think the national average household income is somewhere around £26K. What would that be a month?

I'm thinking, that is a complete nightmare and what the hell do you do, just not have any children?!?!?

Which I know kind of goes against what I just said...

It's difficult, I don't know the solution.

A lot of folks just opt not to have children.

True

The whole bloody world is against you if you have children isn't it?

Yes, pretty much, GDG. There are a LOT of people who think that if you have kids, you deserve every bit of financial misery you get, and shouldn't get ANY help or tax breaks at all.

Honestly, there are .

It's quite depressing really but if you really sat down and thought about it none of us would opt to have children.

Yes. A couple of my childless colleagues (women of course) are always banging on about how much maternity costs and how people who have children bring the financial cost on themselves. "How dare they complain about it?" is their attitude.

When I tentatively ventured an argument about "Who would pay pensions if we had no children?" one said "Well the world is overpopulated anyway, so the fewer children the better". As though it is the moral stance never to have them to "save the planet".

I know deep down that this is all probably motivated from some deep resentment that I would never dare probe. I only worry that this is somehow a widespread view among those who didn't/don't have children.

Unfortunately it is a widespread attitude amongst those who don't have childre. There are even horrid websites devoted to it.

There was a thread on here about them. Those sort of people call themselves "child free"