Nursery Fee Increases

[Berlioze]

Out of curiosity, how much have your child's nursery fees gone up by in the last 2 years? I think mine have gone up by a ridiculous amount but need a benchmark, %-wise please as I know starting fees will vary depending on the region.

Wow. That's extreme. How are you coping with these fees?

Mine is till 6pm as standard. If you want an extra hr till 7pm, it's another £30 for that hour.

For the original longer day to 7pm the fees are up 58% to £158!

Wow, that is really high!

20% (10% each year) but I’m fully aware it’s driven by the lack of funding and increase in minimum wage.

I also see that the nursery is continually pushing standards and best practice and think they are excellent. So never direct my frustration at the nursery itself, but the broken system.

Ours has decreased standards, if anything. Whilst telling us they are raising fees to "maintain them", doh!

It's just a shame that the increases probably won't filter through to the undoubtedly underpaid and overworked staff.

@Berlioze
We left the nursery! It coincided with my maternity leave, so moved my child to preschool. But if I hadn't done that I would have been stuck because waiting lists are very long everywhere.

I should also add that those fees are without funding, which we would have got this year.

I don't expect many are doing this longer day in reality. It's £40 for the last hour from 6-7.

This, 100%. I wouldn't be enraged if the funds were spent on them and on our kids, but they are not.

I am paying 20% more for DS2 than I did for DS1 two years ago. Same nursery.

Our fees have increased by 18% since 2022. The day rate is now £85. We're in the southeast but outside London.

@Berlioze the nursery I work at pays their staff well

I'm pleased for you. Staff at mine are on NMW, or 10-15p above max if they are "senior".

Childminder but it was £6.50 an hour in 2021. Now £7.50 over 3 increases. She's great so we pay it and can just about afford to.

12% increase this year and 10% last year. Sent an email saying I could understand last years as that was the rate of inflation but this years was double 😩😮😖

There energy price increase wouldn’t have been capped.

How does the price compare to other nurseries in the area?

Our youngest started 2 months ago and in the same email announcing the info for the funded (worded as free) hours for 2 year olds in April and 9 month olds in September, put the hourly rate up by £1, which is an additional £10 a day. So when our youngest is eligible in September that will have a massive effect on any savings made. I am also anticipating them charging some sort of sundries top up.

Mines £73 in the midlands. Its not far off paying a nanny £12 per hour now and they could do the school runs too

My fees will be going down. You know why? Because they can't get the staff so they've drastically reduced the hours.

Yes this is what annoys me, the staff are what makes my nursery exceptional and they are the biggest factor in why I chose that nursery.

The building and facilities are comparable in every nursery we looked at.

Each room lead is a long standing member of staff, who’s have been there 10 years+ and I think a strong lead is what sets the expectations for the junior staff. The baby room lost their lead and it was obvious the staff lacked passion and care.

Some nurseries round my way charge £10-12 a day less. I find it difficult to believe those costs are any other than profit.

If the government had listened to nurseries they would have increased the current funded hours rate rather than spread it out to younger children. They aren't covering a "free" hour but it's still be marketed as such. If they said it was subsidised fewer parents would get a shock. Even those who look into it before pregnancy are unlikely to have dug into the details just saw "free 30 hours" and thought great!

My nursery was charging £65 for a 8-6 day. They went bust. The only other nursery is now £99 a day for the same length of time. There are cheaper nurseries further away but it’s not possible to get to them and work the hours were contracted to work, so we have to pay it. They aren’t doing funding for 2 year olds either.

You’ve said it’s not feasible for you to get to the nurseries in the surrounding areas, so you’re stuck paying whatever they will charge. The other option is you risk them going under and they don’t give you notice, it’s a case of pick your kids up as we’re no longer operating. It doesn’t matter what you’ve got going on at work, you have no childcare and a whole setting of families trying to find a space.

They need to pay staff fairly then, not focus on profiteering. Why don't you raise this with your MP.

Absolutely, this.

I've explained the point regarding the area earlier in the thread in my posts.

The cap may be an issue, I acknowledge this, but the inflation is easing, the increases do not reflect that at all.

So why are so many nurseries closing their doors? Please blame the government for this shitshow, not providers.