What % of your take home pay goes on childcare ?

[Lasvegas]

Having one of those why does childcare have to come out of net pay, in my view it should be treated the same as pension contributions.

My childcare and cleaning costs are 50% of my take home /net pay. What about you?

[gloriainexcHELSIsdeo]

20% per month on child care (I have a cheap minder)

[uwila]

Too bloody much.

I think all money spent on childcare should be tax free... but that wouldn't work out very well for Mr. Brown's spending habit so I don't suppose I'll get my way.

[CountessDracula]

As a percentage of our household income it is about 10 I think for nursery and p/t nanny

[uwila]

Ah CD my buddy. I just know we are going to agree on everything on this thread.

[CountessDracula]

LOL! Come on then....

[CountessDracula]

Hey Uwila do you get the accor voucher things? Those along with the sessions paid for for 3 year old have practically halved our nursery costs, so you do get some breaks!

[Hulababy]

DD goes to a day nursery (not state) for 2.5 days, using 5 of the nursery vouchers and us paying the rest. Our nursery fees are between 4 and 5 % of our total gross household income. Was possible slightly higher before the vouchers, but DD only went for 2 days then.

[chicagomum]

Am going back to work next week after maternity leave and have calculated that by the time I have paid childcare, petrol, registration fees and professional insurance (oh! and tax - as if I could forget) will be left with less than 1/4 of my income.

[HandbagAddiction]

Mine is about 20% of my take home pay - full-time nursery, 5 days a week. Still think it's way too much though and I'm complete agreement that we should be able to treat this as a tax deductable expense...

[CountessDracula]

actually the nanny for 3 hours a day costs more than the f/t nursery! I just can't bring myself to leave dd in nursery til 6....

[uwila]

CD, no breaks for me. My company doesn't want to play. Neither does my husband's. :-(

Roll on free school places!!

[Hulababy]

DH is forever saying that there should be tax relief on childcare costs.

[CountessDracula]

No way that is really bad. Both of ours do, saves us about £2400 a year or something

[uwila]

Piss off... (in the nicest possible way of course)

[uwila]

Uh oh. Did I kill the thread? I was only joking. I hope you're not mad, CD.

[CountessDracula]

oh no of course not sorry was working

Now why are they not doing it? You should complain

[ladymuck]

Was slightly p*ed off to find that DH's salary sacrifice system did offer childcare vouchers, but he didn't show me the brochure until it was too late! He did manage to pick up on the fact that he could buy a new laptop from PC World for 60% of normal price, so it wasn't as if he hadn't read the changes.

Now we've one at school the whole thing gets ever more complicated - today ds2 was in nursery and ds1 went to afterschool club, but on Thursday I have a nanny. And from next Sept ds2 will be in state nursery 5 mornings a week - not sure about what I do then.

But agree childcare is expensive, and more help is needed.

[bossykate]

ooh, ladymuck, i would be fuming!

[Gobbledigook]

Negligible. Only pay for 3 mornings a week of nursery for ds2 who will be 3 in Jan so funded. Ds3 not in any childcare yet and ds1 at school.

Tbh, I don't see what is wrong with taking childcare out of your net pay. Why the same as pension contributions? You make your choices and you make them based on how much it will cost you. That's the way I see it anyway, I don't expect anyone to fund my choices.

[bossykate]

except your dh that is

[CountessDracula]

and the state

[bossykate]

oh i'm sorry i posted that now - heat of the moment

sorry

[uwila]

Actually Gobbldigook, I don't expect the same as pension contributions as I'm not asking anyone to match my contribution. I just think that taxing the money I earn FOUR times so I can pay my childcare and go to work to pay taxes is a tad bit excessive.

[Lasvegas]

CD so glad that your'e another one that cannot leave her child in nursery till 6. I in effect pay two providers for the last hour 5 -6. The nursery is obviously paid for the full day but I pay someone else to collect DD at 5. Sometimes when I have no help with collection I get her at 6pm and she is last one there. Makes me v sad to think that she sits watching the other mums collect her friends. If I wasn't so soppy I wouldn't be spending 50% of take home pay on childcare.

Gobledegook - I didn't mean I wanted the state to fund my childcare, rather class it from a tax perspective as a nececity rather than a luxury. The childcare voucher scheme is a step in right direction but some employers won't adopt it, and a max of £50 a week is very much a drop in the ocean.