Nursery fee’s

[Mumma1799]

I’m not due to go back to work till next year but have enquired around some nurseries & childminders ready for when I do.
how on earth do people afford to pay nursery fee’s?! My wages won’t even cover a months fee.
it is absolutely extortionate, even if I drop my hours & only send her part time I will have £300 left. I have a mortgage & bills to pay.
how do people do it? It’s getting me so down, I now understand why so many mums don’t return to work because it’s just not worth it.
I don’t have family or friends who can help out & she won’t be eligible for the free funding until next September.

Do you have a partner ?

Will her father pay half of the fees or are you a single mom?

If you are single, do a search on whether you are entitled to help with childcare fees from Universal Credit

If you aren’t a single parent then it shouldn’t just be your salary paying for it.

Nurseries and childminders don't charge above minimum wage per hour so I don't understand how this is true?

Im not a single parent but my wages wouldn’t even cover nursery fees let alone splitting the bills as well like we currently do. Even splitting childcare, would leave us both with about £200 each for the month to cover petrol, food & other necessities. We live in London so it’s £420 a week for childcare

£420 a week is what they charge. I live in London & my wage isn’t great. With bills going up it is true unfortunately

By one of you going part-time or working mostly opposite hours.

Yup London nursery fees here also… paying over £2k/month for my 2.5yr old full time … 😥😭tax free helps and we have good salaries but we’re only just keeping afloat. Now we’ve a 2 month old and we will have to drain savings for when double nursery fees kick in…

Childcare is one of the most important and valuable skills in society.

I cringe when mothers call childcare "too expensive".

You need to either claim Universal credit for help with childcare costs or work around each other so that you don't have them to pay.

So it's not that childcare is more than you wage which is what you said, but that you dont earn enough to live in London?

Childcare costs what it does because they are caring for your child!

Some really unhelpful comments. Having kids is good for everyone in society and as a society we should make it easier for woman (no matter what job she does) to go back to work. Also, I don't think this is just a London problem @KateyCuckoo?
Honestly OP, it's terrible. But it isn't forever. Think long and hard before giving up work, pension contributions etc. It's not forever, only a short period and you need to view it as an investment in yourself.

It is expensive when you find you don't have enough money to live on.

@Newjobformoremoney does that include the predominantly all women workforce of childcarers who earn barely minimum wage but have to listen to everyone moaning about how expensive it is?

There's universal credit and tax free childcare to help, followed by 30 hours funding at 3 years old and 9 months paid maternity leave. It's a tiny drop in the ocean over a working lifetime, barely 2.5 years maximum.

But it is too expensive. We’ve got the most expensive childcare in the developed world. No one is saying those who work in the sector should be paid less, but the government should be subsidising it more. Which luckily they are next year…

OP you’ll get thirty hours free a week next September.

@KateyCuckoo you are confusing two separate issues.

1. Childcare is too expensive
2. People in childcare are underpaid.

Both can be true at the same time. And it certainly isn't a drop in the ocean if you can't afford to eat.

Why don't you just get a nanny instead? Literally no point paying 2x £2k a month when you can get a full time nanny for less.

Could you work flexible hours - eg 5 day week compressed into 3 days? Get a better paying job? A friend of mine also based in London changed her job to be non-London based, drove in, and enrolled DS into a much cheaper nursery without needing to take a paycut

I don't understand people that don't research the cost of childcare before deciding to have a child!

Sorry to be THAT person OP, but didn't you ever look in to this before deciding to have a baby? It's kind of a big deal.

I earn good money, but took a career break to be a SAHM when DC were babies, as the money I would have paid out for childcare just wasn't worth what I'd have left after working my ass off all week.

Snap!

I'm a childminder, for me they are directly linked.

The government subsidising it isn't a solution either unless they do it properly and ultimately parents don't care enough about the rate settings receive as long as they aren't paying it. We just don't have the backing of the public to fight to raise it.

Settings will close and you won't have to worry about fees because they'll be no spaces anyway.

It isn’t free hours, it’s funded hours. 30 hours per week and term time only. Childcare providers can’t run the hours on the amount given to them by government, they are funded hours or subsided hours. I really don’t know why the advertising standards agency hasn’t pulled the government up on this.

As a couple surely you would split childcare automatically...and all bills based on what you earn?
Dont forget you get 20% tax free.