Back to work - childcare help?!

[Terrilouisse]

Does anyone have any advice on childcare costs? I'm due to start work next week and for my two kids in full time nursery it will be £1800 per month! We simply can't afford that but in desperate to take up this post graduate internship I have been offered!
Tax credits can't even advise what we may be entitled to until I start working but I can start without the fees for the nursery!
Are there any burseries/ grants or childcare cost help available?

Thanks in advance
A very worried mummy!!

Does the employer (yours or your husbands) offer child care vouchers? That way, you can pay a certain portion of the costs from your gross salary before you pay tax and NI. If you can both do it, its a saving of about £150 a month - not much but it all counts.

There is an element of tax credits for child tax credits that is for childcare but I don't know anything about it. You'l get better advice if you ask for this post to be moved to "Going back to work" or parenting.

Could you consider a childminder instead, they are often cheaper and sometimes offer a sibling discount. If either of your children is over 3 then you will be entitled to some free hours with a childminderor at nursery. To be honest I'm not sure how anyone affords those kinds of Nursery costs . as even with help from tax creidits it sounds unaffordable.

Have you looked at a live in nanny? A newly qualified nanny with no previous job will be looking at far less than a regular nanny. Around £300 a week full time, so still lots but saving a few hundred a month.

Turn2us have a very good online calculator which will give you the pretty good idea of what help you're entitled to. I found it to be more accurate than the official GOV one

Lovely- thank you! Will give it a go :)