Childcare costs for 2 children

[podkin]

Can anyone give me a very rough idea of how much childcare would cost per day for 2 children, one 18 months and one 6 months. I would probably go for a childminder. I live in Sussex (don't know if rates vary throughout the country).

when our 2 were at nursery (so not sure if useful comparision) it cost us more than £900/month for 3 days a week (we live in London)

i currently pay £260 a week for full time childcare with a childminder, for 2 children. aged 8 and 4, i pay more over the course of the year so that my costs don't triple when school holidays come around.

am dreading the bill when i have to pay for 3 children come october when i go back to work!

I live in Reading, Berks

As I suspected, it looks like it's going to be prohibitively expensive. I'm just deciding whether it will be worth my while to go back to work part time (I work in London). With childcare and travel costs, I will be in the red. Looks like I'll have to to give it up...

Thanks for your comments.

No idea of what rates childminders charge in your area (yes, they are different depending on where you live), but some minders do reductions for siblings.

I live in Brighton and when i go back to work (imminently) we have to pay just under £1000 per month for 2 kids with the childminder (3 days a week).
It makes me feel faint just thinking of all of that money. Our childminders are great (a couple who have no kids but childmind together) but they do not give discounts for the second child.
Am currently looking for a better paid job to make it seem worth while. In my current job I would only take home an extra £400 per month after childcare and I just don't think this is worth all the hassle of going back to work.
of course there is always the lottery....! haha

I am a childminder in West Sussex and rates do vary throughout the county. If you live in the north part (like I do) then rates are likely to be £3.50 to £4.50 per hour per child, but down on the coast the cost is likely to be 50p to £1 per hour less! You would need to find childminder with two vacancies & also who has space for an under 1 as not all do. Also ask if they do a sibking discount, although a lot won't now as the same amount of food etc is eaten by siblings as it is by two different children. Sorry I can't help at the moment I will have two spaces in the future but probably not until Janury 07 when 2 of current mindies start full time school!

Badgerhead - thanks for the useful info. I am in Mid Sussex ! Just out of interest, what sort of hours do you work ? ie what time are the children dropped off and picked up ? If I went back to work, I suspect the day would be too long for it to be practical.

ChildcareLink sometimes has fees charged by childminders, worth entering your postcode and looking though details of local childminders.

In my area, Surrey/Berks, £4 per hour, per child is typical, so if say you wanted 7.30am to 5.30pm, then £80 per day... which you would have to find from your take-home pay.

Another option could be a part-time nanny, though the cost does vary. £70 net per day is typical though less experienced and newly qualified nannies may accept less... you need to remember to add on the employers costs, Tax NI Employers NI.
Advantage of a nanny is that they would probably more willing to do a longer day, 10 to 12 hours is quite typical for a nanny to work.

My two will be Cm'd from april - am expecting to pay around £60 a day (plus food money) but will only be two days. My employer does the busy bee voucher scheme , so I pre-order vouchers each month and they are taken out of salary at source and avoid paying NI on them - also think that it may be tax free now as well - note to self - phone HR.

i pay CM vouchers and they send them off (inpre-paid envelope) to the admin office who inturn transfer the value into their account. I am assured this is an easy process but htis will be first time I use it - so fingers crossed all goes well and CM gets paid regularly. Any CM's receive busy bee?

obviously also get tax credit aswell - we're on lowest amount but it all helps!

so all in all I'm saving - just don't know how much.

talk to your HR and see what if they offer a voucher system.

Anna

btw - ours will be CM for 9hrs - found that most cm's are available 8am till 6pm anyway - mine are just there for the majority of this.

I only just earn more than I pay out and have a reasonably well paid job

Podkin
Sorry I didn't get back to this thread sooner. The hours I work are the core hours of 9 to 6 but I will look at other hours e.g. in the past I have done 7.15 start & at prersent I do a 6.30 finish one night a week. I prefer an earlier start to a later finish as often have things on in the evening & need to get away.

Thanks Badgerhead and all others for comments and advice. I have decided to write to work and see if there is any chance of part time - although I doubt it will be feasable as my job is based on a 6 month cycle which means week to week work is not 'regular'. Unless they can come up with something fantastic ie me working from home, I will be handing my notice in.

Podkin you can choose to take up to 216 a month of your salary tax and NI free in childcare vouchers, saving you between £700 and £1100 ish a year, check with your employer if they are on the Accor scheme

Podkin you can choose to take up to 216 a month of your salary tax and NI free in childcare vouchers, saving you between £700 and £1100 ish a year, check with your employer if they are on the Accor scheme

CD, I think they do have a voucher scheme - and although useful, it would still leave me in the red as it stands. If my employer is able to offer me hours which means travelling off peak, or working at home, I think that is where the major saving is going to be made.

its a nightmare - my cm charges around £27 a day per child

if you are near crawley - pm me and i will let you have her details, she is very good and is a upper level registered cm and looks after other cm's in the area.

checked with HR and found out we can order up to £217 per parent in vouchers - which is even better as DH works for same organisation. This will make life so much easier - will only be paying cm £20 per week of taxed money (and only because our cm charges the higher rate locally) and all in all about the same will be going out on childcare as it was with just one being cm'd last year.

don't know if all voucher systems work like this (we use busy bees) but it may be worth asking at dh's place of work too.

btw in oxon was regularly quoted £2.50p/h for dd1(3) and £3.00p/h for dd2. have settled with someone who charges £3.50p/h but she'll feed them at her cost too for this.

anniemac - thanks for that - not that we'll ever see the money. has always assumed vouchers were per family so had a welcome surprise when HR said it was per parent - will make so much difference that I won't begrudge returning to work.

just come back to this . Buffyslay - does your CM cover haywards heath/burgess hill ? if not maybe she can recommend ? sorry bout typing, bf-ing at the mo !