Worried a bout finances when i go back to work

[SleepDeprivedGrumpyBum]

Apologies in advance as this could be a bit long winded.

Before i went on maternity leave i was a manager in the retail sector, not a store manager just a standard shift manager. The money wasn't great and the hours were long and changed on a week to week basis. I'm now coming up to going back to work and i dont know what to do.

Dp and I have agreed i can't realistically go back to my old job as the lack of standard hours would make organising childcare a nightmare. The company i work for wont allow managers in my position to just work set hours. So i'd have to take a demotion.

However, i just can't see how to make it work financially. I need to be earning at least as much as i've been gettin on SMP (so about £500 a month) but we have no childcare options available to us from family etc. So the way i see it is i would need to be earning X amount of hours to earn the £500, so i'd need X amount of childcare; but then i'd need to earn more money to pay for that childcare, and would need more childcare to be able to work the extra hours. Just seems a catch 22 to me.

I can't work evenings and weekends as DP's job isn't a standard 9-5 and he very often has to travel all across the country which means ensuring he gets home by a certain time isn't possible.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this riddle? Or has anyone found themselves in a similar situation and found a novel way around it?

Have you had any meetings with work yet? It's worthwhile talking to them first about the different options before you start worrying. Also give your payroll department a call and find out how much your take home salary would be on less hours, then you can research some local childcare costs and go from there.

You aren't actually allowed to be given a 'demotion', so give your current company your best shot and research all your options before worrying too much! If you tell them you are really keen to go back and find a solution that works for both of you, you might be pleasantly surprised!

Agree with TheSecondComing.

If, overall, your joint income with your DH isn't very high, then you'll be entitled to financial help with childcare.

If your joint earnings are too high, then clearly you can afford childcare, it'll just take a pretty big chunk out of your family income - which is just the way it is. The thing to do, is to look on it as a joint expense. It's not just your income which has to pay for it, it's a joint expense incurred by you and your DH, just like paying the mortgage and buying food.

There's no secret answer to the problem - and in fact, tbh, things are about a million times better than when many of us older mums were returning to work, when there were no tax credits, no subsidised nursery places for 3 yr olds etc. You need to just take a longer term view. Returning to work may seem like a financial hit now, but it keeps you in the workplace, and will pay off in the longer term.