Subsidised Childcare

[barmaid]

Hi

We are in the position like many, that childcare equates to my salary. I really want to return to work and make a bob or two in my current profession rather than freelancing, working from home or working evenings and weekends in another field.

I would love to know of any employers that subsidise childcare...anyone lucky enough?

There are companies (including mine) that offer a salary sacrifice scheme. It works in the same way as the voucher scheme in that you swap an amount of your salary and therefore don't pay tax and national insurance on it, but it is not capped like the voucher scheme (which I think is capped at £243 per month or thereabouts). It has to be a workplace nursery (my firm uses a scheme called TEDS - if you google TEDS childcare it should come up) but my preferred nursery was already in the scheme (and actually when I moved companies earlier this year, they signed up to the scheme because they benefit and its an incentive to attract potential employees if they offer it too). So if you're a higher rate tax payer, you save 50% of all of your childcare fees, even if you're a basic rate tax payer it saves over a third. My monthly childcare fees for my DD were £830 or thereabouts - my firm paid the nursery directly and deducted about £550 from my salary.

Amazing, thank you, I will look into this as it would make a huge difference!