If youre sick of living off state benefits but dont want to leave your child, try this..

[allgonebellyup]

Why not work as a nanny? this is what i did as i was so damn sick of being on benefits, and it means you can usually take your child with you. Obviously if you have older children at school who need collecting it can be difficult but if you have family they could help out?
Also childminding is a great way of earning without leaving your children with someone else.

Childminder or nanny - there is a difference. Please don't take this the wrong way allgonebellyup - I agree it is a great way to earn a living if you love working with children, but having been a nanny I know many nannies hate being referred to as a childminder as the two are very different and I think parents need to know what the difference is.

A childminder works in their own home and parents take their children there (can be several different families depending on how many children the childminder is registered to care for) - they need no experience only to do a short course in order to register and have to have OFSTED inspections. Cheaper than a nanny and usually more flexible than a nursery. As allgonebellyup said, great if you have your own children as you don;t need to find alternate care for them.

A nanny works in the families home and generally only cares for those children (unless its a nanny share). They are usually qualified and/or experienced in a professional capacity (not just caring for their own children). There is no register of nannies, they are generally the most expensive option and are not OFSTED inspected. Also very flexible. Most families don't want a nanny to take their own child(ren) to work with them - although there are exceptions.

i have had five nanny jobs where the parents were happy for me to take my child along! Each job worked out well, apart from one which was simply too far away.

i know as well as you do that a nanny and a childminder are two totally different things!! i also hate being called a childminder!!
But i know people who do it as a job as they have little ones at home..its still an option for some mums on benefits who want an income !!

Why NOT work and keep your little ones with you?? it has to be better than income support?

Also, i wouldnt say i LOVE working with children, rather i do it so i can be with my son and earn at the same time!

There are other options for working at home whilst being with your own children but I can't say or it'd be an advert !
drruthwilliams at netscape dot net

allgonebellyup - I think I read your original post wrong. You started off by talking about nannying then (the way I read it) referred to the job as childminding - that is why I pointed out the differences, however just reading it again I realise that you could have been saying as well as nannying, childminding is also great

I think you've been very lucky to be able to work as a nanny and take your own children, in my experience (working as a nanny and for a nanny agency) parents haven;t really wanted that - unless they knew the nanny before she had the child.

As I also said in my original post I agree it is a great way to work and earn money. I could never have done the job if I didn;t enjoy working with children though, when it stopped being fun I stopped being a nanny.