How much do you spend on childcare?

[SandysMam]

Thinking about when I return to work after maternity leave.
I am reducing my hours to pretty much half time and my take home should be about £1000 per month.
My childcare for the first 2 years (until free nursery hours kick in) will be around £450 per month.
I am so shocked that I have to work half a month just to pay for childcare.
Just wondering how other's balance out and how you get your head around it really! I feel so defeated by it all but don't have any family help.

Was similar here.

I think you need to reframe your thinking. You will be adding £550 per month (less any truly direct costs of working) to the family pot - that is loads esp as it sounds like you are not working full time. Of course if you want / can afford to be a sahm that is an option but certainly not a cheap one in your case.

£900+ here for full time nursery. No point in working if you are on min wage. Sahp is seen as a luxury on here for some reason but we would only take home £100 a month after travel costs and not see our DD for 40 hours a week, so just not worth it until the free hours kick in.

After tax I take home 1600, DH takes home 1200
Childminder is 670 a month for 3 full days a week for 2 toddlers 7am-6pm so well worth it for us

If you have a career rather than a job I think you have to consider what it would mean to leave the workplace for a few years then come back to it, sometimes it is worth taking the hit to retain your financial security.

Fuckoff that sounds amazingly cheap

If your employer offers childcare vouchers and your childcare provided accepts them you can save a bit. (Dh can also claim...if employer offers it).

If not look out for 'tax free childcare' scheme starting this year apparently.

It's a lot but like everything else once u start paying it you get used to it. We paid £567 for 3 days nursery. Now found a childminder we like which is a bit cheaper.

TBH, if you don't have family help, you either work opposite shifts to your DH or you suck it up and pay. I chose the SAHP route afte DC2 as it would have left us is debt after paying out my wages. As it is, we have a reasonable quality of life. The preschool years are very bloody expensive!

Don't have family help. Two DC with one at nursery and one st school. About £1600 a month? You look at it from the POV that they will all be in school soon, than by y6 won't need much if any childcare. It's such a short time in your life. And there is the pension contribution too.

DS is starting nursery next year. Our employers both use childcare vouchers. We're about £450 a month for 3 full days at nursery. The vouchers mean we don't pay any tax on that and it comes off our salaries before tax.

30-35k a year for a full time nanny. It's eye watering, but necessary, as both of us work full time.

£42 a day. Term time only but due to the days I work I have to pay for 4 days a week even though I only work 3 days a week.

In terms of career continuity and pensions contributions it is worth it. Obviously DH and I both pay for childcare.

£1k + a month. Up until last September I had two dcs in nursery at all points for 3 years - so over £2k, we had to try not to think about it!

£700 a month and I take home £1000

Thanks everyone, this has made me feel better! Most people I know get so much help from grandparents etc and I felt like I was the only one having to pay out so much! This has helped put it into perspective.

I pay around £1200 per month for 1 x ft nursery & 1 x wraparound care.
I am a single parent though so income would be none if I didn't work so definitely worth it!

South East London here. I pay £1010 per month for full time nursery (after discount from childcare vouchers)

£960 a month for full time nursery for 18 month old. As of next month add in another £130 to a childminder for doing nursery drop off 3 days a week as I wont be able to do it due to a change in job.

We get £248 childcare vouchers (so essentially can take £100 off the above).

Until I had a child I was completely oblivious to the high cost of childcare and couldn't understand why so many people didn't go back to work after having children. Now I totally get it.

£48 a day before funded hours, which is cheaper than other parts of the country. My career would likely not recover from several years out, I enjoy work and financially it's definitely beneficial for me to work.

Remember that a nursery is feeding and entertaining your child, if you were at home you would be spending money on food and probably groups, classes, soft play etc too so you need to factor that in.

£1500 a month

Yes, you need to see it in the long term and consider the impact on your career etc if you take 4 years out and contributed no cash to the family pot.

Liking your job, a sensible commute and good relationships at work are key factors too.

£700 a month for 4 full days at nursery, after tax and childcare vouchers I take home £1800. It's been hard to rationalise one taking a huge paycut to reduce my hours and then using so much of my salary for childcare on top. But I love my day off with DD and she loves nursery, plus the adult conversation at work has been my only saving grace as DH works away a lot.

Ours is £1100 for 3 full days, 8-6. It's a big chunk and means we probably won't be able to afford to have another one until our DD is in school!

My local nursery is £75 per child per day - my eldest is 3 now but for a while I was paying totally for both (no childcare vouchers from my work), so we use a childminder and pre school for the elder one (collected by childminder). Both children then cost around £45 a day plus I provide lunch and nappies (they provide snacks).

It went down considerably term after my eldest turned 3 and goes down even more in sept with the 30 hours so it's expensive for a relatively short period of time.

We both work full time and pay £1500 per month for 1 x full time private nursery and 1 x wraparound. This will reduce slightly come September when we will get 12.5 hours funded (not in England so don't get the full 30 hours).

Me working equates to me eactually earning/bringing home about £1.40 per hour but for us it has been so worth it. My career is going from strength to strength, I am financially independent and our childcare providers have been excellent and when my youngest starts school full time we will immediately see a massive monthly financial gain.

The cost of childcare is expensive but it's excellent value for money and in the big scheme of things it is only temporary/short term.