Mat pay/part time

[Isoldesun]

Just a vent really. How do people actually afford nursery fees if their child needs to go to one full time after Mat leave?

FTM to be & I'm starting to panic a bit about finances. To start with although I get a relatively good Mat leave allowance from my job which I'm really grateful for, it's still a lot lower than what I would normally get.

Then looking at nursery fees they work out at over a grand a month for full time. I'm considering going part time as this just seems extortionate and more than half of my actual monthly wage. We'd be in the same position financially if I go part time but at least he wouldn't be in nursery full time.

My husband would love to go part time or do some of mat leave but he earns a lot more than me so just doesn't seem possible for us unfortunately.

Sorry if this sounds really naive but Is this normal? 🫠How do other people cope financially?

Our nursery fees are nearly £1400 per month for 4 days a week. It's a real stretch but I am working on the basis that if I give up work now, it will be much harder for me to go back into work when my son is at school (my job needs me to keep up to date so I'd really be limiting my options - plus I think I might get used to not working and would find it really hard to start again). I find working 4 days a week is a compromise, and my husband and I split the cost of nursery between us, with him contributing more as he earns more and because I spend Fridays with my son. So I pay 50% towards Mon-Wed nursery fees, and my husband does the same plus pays 100% of the Thursday fees.

Also worth bearing in mind that you might qualify for free hours when they turn 3 - either 15 or 30 hours a week depending on how much you and your partner earn. You might also be eligible for Tax Free Childcare: www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/tax-free-childcare/

Definitely check out tax free childcare. It's not much but it's something

Thank you @ireneadler101 . Appreciate your input. Wow that's outrageous re your nursery fees for 4 days.

We would definitely split the cost, however, looking at in the round our household income would be really reduced so we're just trying to consider whether it would really be worth us both working full time in stressful job as, however way we slice it(part time or full time), the fees would be about half of my wage.

Also the thought of someone else looking after baby boy for the majority of the week while I work to not really earn anything more than I would if I was part time doesn't really sit right with us. I totally hear what you're saying about your career though, I'm really worried about that for similar reasons.

Thanks for the link, I think the years between 1-3 are going to be the trickiest xx

Can you get this for under 3s? I'm so confused by it all.

@Isoldesun yes it's totally separate to the 30 free hours and most people are eligible I believe.

Essentially it's like having a separate bank account. You put money into that account and the government will top it up by 20%. So if you put in £100 the government puts in £20 and so on, but the maximum they will pay is £2000 per year.

Your childcare setting is then paid directly from that account. It's really easy to set up on the government website

I'd also add, I went down to 4 days per week and my partner fixed his working days so his days off are sundays & mondays which means our daughter only needs to go three days a week. We only have one day together as a family now which is tough but necessary.

Would either of your jobs be open to something similar? Or condensed hours?

I used to work around my partner hours, evenings and weekends. Childcare is very expensive, especially down south, just doesn't make sense to work for free. I believe there are free nursery hours for 2 year old but only for people on benefits. Then it's 30h from 3 years old if both parents work more than 16h each but no more than 100k family income a year. Otherwise it's just 15 h as it was years ago across board. Those 30h a week are for 38 weeks a year though, so if you work daytime you still have to top up cost for extra. Up to 3 year old it's worth checking childminders they can be cheaper. I'm lucky to work nights 4 on 4 off 8h shifts, it's perfect around kids and when they go to school I get time for myself too lol. So especially up to 3 year old it's worth to sacrifice and work around eachother, unless you earn 3k a month and don't mind spending half of it on nursery.

I think this all depends on your long term career opportunities.
I’m lucky we have free help in the form of my mum but I have been speaking to a lot of people at work about this (lots of pregnancies/ partners in my workplace at the moment).
One gentleman mentioned his wife is going back full time and that after nursery they will simply break even but that in 3/5 years if she stays on the same trajectory there is opportunity for significant salary growth.
I’ve made the decision to go back full time after 7 months for the same reason.
I feel I have a potentially amazing career path in front of me that I hope will allow me to give my son an amazing life whilst fulfilling my personal goals also.
Before my mum decided to retire to support us we had the chat and nursery would have been around 30-50% of my salary (dependant on the nursery) and I still would have made the decision to go back full time as that’s what felt right to me.
Either decision is of course right if it’s right for you, just trying to offer another way to look at it 😊

DS1 cost me 50% of my wage for 3 days a week. Now I'm pregnant again we would pay my entire salary to childcare so I'm taking some time out until DS1 hits 3 years old. It's extortionate!

It's crazy isn't it! I'm not far off going on maternity leave and starting to think about what we will do. Hopefully we will both switch to condensed hours (5 in 4) and my mum is keen to help out a day or two a week so hopefully we will only need 1 or 2 day's a week at nursery