Please can someone explain childcare costs to me?

[butterflycr]

Please explain to me like I'm 5 because I don't get it.

Currently pregnant with my first DC, due in August. Household income less than £100k. I work part time (22 hours), partner is full time. SE England if it's relevant.

I know the govt are bringing in 30 free hours for 9 months +, but I see so many people on here complaining about childcare costs, even though their child is getting the free hours, and I'm confused.

Am I right in thinking that if I put my baby in nursery anytime from 9 months old - May 2026 - it will be free for 30 hours a week? (except for meal costs etc on top maybe but surely that won't be crazy expensive??)

Or are there more extra expenses that I don't know about? How much is it actually likely to cost?

And do I need to start looking for a nursery before they are born?

TIA!

I think it varies massively from nursery to nursery. Some only allow funding for a fixed amount of sessions per week so if you are needing full time hours you may still have a large bill. Contact the childcare provider you are wanting to use, they will advise you of any additional payments

Hi,

Congratulations. Short answer is yes, I would start looking at nurseries immediately. With my first (born March 2022) we secured a place when she was 4 months to start at 12 months. This time we asked our current nursery for a place for our new baby when I was 3 months pregnant (again to start at 12 months) and they said we'd taken the last spot to start in that month 😮Demand is really high. Also be prepared to pay a small fee now to secure your place.

In terms of it being free with the free hours, no it's not. Firstly the 30 hours will be in a configuration dictated by the nursery i.e. 3 x 10 hour days even if you migth drop off later, pick up earlier etc. Some do a short day so that's worth looking into if you're part time.
Another issue is that the 30 hours are term time only, so if you want year round nursery it's actually 30 hours per term time week spread over 50 weeks.
The costs vary, they might be on the website of the nursery you're considering but if not clear you need to ask for an example of a monthly invoice for the days you're looking for.

Good luck x

The funding is term time only, so 39 weeks (I think) of the year. Assuming your child goes year round, most nurseries “stretch” the funding so it covers the full year, but that means your 30 hours a week probably equate to 1.5-2 days of nursery, and you would pay for the rest.

Nursery availability varies depending on your location, but you may find funded places are limited so it is better to register early on. I was advised to register for a full time place and then I could decide nearer the time if I wanted to drop some days (but check with individual nurseries). DD’s old nursery in London had 18month waiting list, her current one out of London we got a space as soon as we wanted one. It’s so variable, but no harm in looking now.

Funding is term-time only, and then averaged out over a year. Also many nurseries will charge you for a full day (or full morning/afternoon), so you're using up however many hours they're open (roughly 8am-6pm) even though your child is there less time.

Yes you should start looking now, particularly because that's often the only way you'll get to find out the specifics of each nursery's fees and how they work. Have a look round a few and see which you feel comfortable with.

Why are you only working 22 hours now?

It is funded hours, not free. And it is 39 weeks of the year which is term time only. However the funding can be stretched across more weeks if you chose a year-round nursery not a term time only nursery.

My children go to a year-round nursery, 51 weeks of the year. My 1yo gets the universal funded 15hrs, which when spread across the year works out as 11.2hrs a week. This particular nursery don't do half days, only full days, and a full day is 8am-6pm, which is already 10hrs for one single day, that leaves 1.2 funded hrs towards day 2 with the rest of the day needing to be paid for.

On top of this there is the charge for sundries like nappies, nappy creams, wipes, suncream. And then there is also food for the day, which could be breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, tea.

Free childcare is a common misconception!

Obviously very location dependent and fees could increase but this is based on our current fees.

I'm guessing your working 22 hours over 3 days?
Our nursery on the outskirts of London charges £20/day for "fixed extras". It is £733/month for 3 days (8am-6pm) a week with 30 hours funding according to their latest fees (£1173 without funding).
If you only did 2 days a week at the nursery it would be £342 a month (down from £782).

A childminder might suit you better, you can use the funded hours childcare with some childminders too!

You need to approach your local nurseries and see what their policies are.

Some locally to me don’t offer 30 hours, only 15.

Some only allow you to use the free hours if you go 4 or 5 days a week.

Thank you. Yes I'm working over 3 days so would ideally have 3 days childcare.

How does £20 a day for extras work out at £733 a month? That would only come to £240? Is it because you top up term time only funding?

Or is it the £733 the cost of funded place, and then you only pay £240 on top of this?

Just trying to get an idea of what we will actually have to pay.

The only way you're going to know is by contacting the nurseries you're likely to use.

They very wildly on how they calculate the hours and your invoices, it's not going to help you at all to know how much it costs other people or how their nurseries calculate it?

Best case: you need a term time only place and your nursery let you use your 30 hours to cover 3 full days. they charge no top up fee or minimal top up fee (mine charges £7 a day for under 3s, but goes up to almost £30 a day for 3+ due to the funding being lower, there’s a pre school near me which charges £3 a day!) You can also use tax free childcare to reduce bill by 20%.

worst case, you need a place during holidays too, and the nursery will only offer you the 30 hours spread out across 5 days. 30 hours term time is about 22 full time, so you only benefit from about 4 hours a day in this situation. You then have to pay the remaining 6 hours a day or whatever. This could easily be £60 a day even with funded hours. Can still use TFC of course.

all nurseries do it differently, shop around and ask these questions before signing up!

30 hours are funded - not free. The advertising is misleading. The government are funding the hour but for some nurseries it does not cover their rate so they have found other ways to make up the cost.

So if a nursery daily rate is £90 per day for a 10 hour day. But the funding is only £6ph there is a short fall of £30 per day here. Plus doesn't include food or consumables etc that I believe they can charge extra for as well. Many places take the funding hours off their daily rate rather than saying you get the funded hours.

The funding is also term time only 38 weeks a year. This is not made clear during advertising. So if you want it all year it is about 22 hours per week.

It starts the term after child turns 9 month so if baby is 9 months in May 2026, the funding will not be available until September 2026.

You 100% need to start making enquiries now. I've had a friend had to push back returning to work due to spaces not being available. I enquired with our current place when I was 12 weeks pregnant and we only just got a place in time for my child to turn 1 so I can go back to work.

It's a year round nursery; the "30 hours" is term-time so equates to about 22 hours a week, so you'd be paying for one day + too ups for the other two days.

However looking at the small print on the sheet that was funding for 15 hours as that was the rate when the form was sent, sorry!

For 30 hours:
2 days - £170
3 days - £484

You'll have to check individual nurseries in your area because how they do it varies so much.

We've had DN in our care for 6 months. His first nursery he did 5 days. 6 hours. They charged £23 a day for lunchtime and consumables. They were open term time only.

From September he will have 3 10 hour days for his funded hours with a consumables fee of £22 a day. That fee is optional (as it legally has to be) but they've made clear they'll not be able to continue offering funded hours if folks don't pay it. On top of this he will have 2 fully paid days at £72 a day.
They won't be taking any children who will only be having funded hours - they've said they simply cannot afford it. Another nursery locally have withdrawn from offering funded hours at all.

BIL's children go to a childminder who charges no top up fees and stretches the hours over 49 weeks.

Just to add that the funded hours start from the term after your child turns 9months. Terms start on 1st Jan, 1st April and 1st September. So a child turning 9 months in May will be eligible for their funded hours from the 1st September onwards. Additionally, if you’re returning from maternity leave/starting a new job, in this example you must have started your employment by 30th September to qualify for the funded hours from 1st September. If you don’t start work until the October then funded hours won’t start until the following 1st January.

To simplify it OP you’re best off forgetting that they are labelled “free” hours- they aren’t free, it’s more like “reduced price”.

You also don’t get 30 per week unless you only need term time nursery, if you need it for the whole year then it’s about 22 hours per week. Not all nurseries off the 30 hours, so you’d need to make sure you have one that does.

My daughter goes 3 days a week, we now get 15 free hours & use the tax free childcare scheme and with that we pay £850ish, when she gets 30 free hours in September we’ll then be paying £690ish- so it’s not a huge saving!

It's the term after your baby turns 9 months, so for you that will be September.

Your 30 hours a week is 1140 a year. I'm a childminder and offer that as 24 hours a week free with no tops. Nurseries tend to be more expensive so if you have 21-22 hours a week free (as nurseries tend to be open 50-52 weeks) you will pay for any additional hours plus you might need to pay for food, consumables etc. Local nurseries to me seem to be anything from £10-30 extra a day.
You can use tax free childcare to pay the extra costs which will save you 20%

Thanks everyone, this is super helpful.

So say if we got 22 hours funded for 50 weeks, would most nurseries let you spread that across 3 shorter days?

Or would they be more likely to make you do 3 x 10 hour days and pay the difference?

10 hours seems such a long day for a little one but I see most nurseries advertising 8-6.

I know nurseries will of course vary, just wondering if there's a norm or what to expect when we start looking.

My daughter is 2 and she has the 15 hours - she goes 3 days to nursery all year, 8am - 6pm. We pay the extra hours that are not funded and the "extras", this comes up to a total of £985 per month. I tried to get them to explain how the extras and the extra hours are calculated but they said they were not allowed to do so.
Once the 30 hours kick in for her in September we will be paying around £850 or so.
This website explains everything really well: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Nurseries almost all charge by the day, rather than by the hour.

So somewhere that offers the 22 hours a week and lets you use them towards three days will charge you the ‘extras’ fee for day one and two, and for the part day needed to make up the full price on day three.

Best way forward is to contact some local nurseries and ask for their current charges, and when they would be looking for a booking for the start date you’re likely to need.

I agree it is all a complete minefield and I could tell you what our nursery does but it’s best to email some nursery’s close to you and see what they say price wise.

They will be able to give you their prices and how the funded hours can be broken down. the government website which has already been recommended is also good at explaining how it works.

They make you PAY for the full day - you can use whatever hours you want.

If parents are working full time it makes sense that children need to be in nursery 8am-6pm-ish, given a 9-5 working day with a commute. Many people do try to reduce that as much as possible by working part time, flexing hours, etc, but some do of course do full days. My DC did 9-6 four days a week and was absolutely fine. They build relationships with the staff, it's not like you're leaving them with strangers. However, this is why it's really important to find a nursery you trust and feel comfortable leaving them at - I was certain ours was doing a better job of childcare than me 😂

There is no norm. Contact the local nurseries and ask for their fee sheets then you can calculate it yourself.

My lo goes 22hrs a week and with the funded 15hrs (11 stretched) we still pay £350 a month, this will drop to £150 when we get the 30hrs (22 stetched). But at another nursery we would have to pay £400 a month as they charge more

Most will only do full days or half days. It's not practical for staffing (in most cases) to allow people to pt for a shorter day when ratios have to be met at all times.

our nursery only allowed the funded hours to be used as full days or school days - so 5 days of 9-3 or 3 full 10 hour days.

anything outside of that time was chargeable. Ds was there 5 days a week 8:30-5:30 so we had 3 funded days+consumables (£15 a day charge) and we paid for 2 normal days, then for the other 13 weeks of the year we paid the normal FT fee:

this was calculated as an annual fee and then divided by 12 so our bill was consistent.

At the time it was £60 a day for normal paid days.