Childcare costs in Norwich

[pebbles320]

Hi everyone,

I'm not pregnant but my husband and I are thinking about starting a family and we are trying to work out whether we can afford to or not. We both work but are fairly low earners and our rent/bills takes up a lot of our cash!
I know I'll have to go back to work after having a child, which is fine because I like working, but I would like to know now how much I can expect to pay in childcare so I don't get any nasty surprises down the line! How much do you pay in childcare, and what are the cheaper options? I've heard that childminders are cheaper than nurseries, and I like the idea of my child being in a home setting so that's the option I'd be leaning towards, but are there drawbacks?

Thanks for your help!

I pay £52 a day for nursery (open 7.30am til 6pm). All meals and snacks provided, including breakfast.

I paid £48 a day at a different nursery

(All in Norwich, pm me if you want more details!)

We are also low earners and thought we'd struggle. We just manage! I get childcare vouchers through my work, so investigate that with your employers - basically means you get £243 worth of childcare tax free each month.

You really have to hunt around for childminders in some parts of Norwich, so look round early on to get on waiting lists. Drawbacks are you're more at the mercy of the childminder's sickness and holiday. i looked into prices a couple of years ago and £4-5.50 an hour seems to be about the norm But that might be out of date now.

Don't forget 15 hours early years funding kicks in the term after your chold turns 3, so if you had a year of maternity leave it's really "only" about 2-2.5 years that your budget will be squeezed. Soon to be 30 hours but not sure when.