Child care costs

[mamonie]

I'm currently living in France where my dd of 10 months shares a nanny with another family costing us around £500 pm (tax deductable). We are moving back to the UK (between Oxford and London) at the end of May and I fear that we will have to pay alot more. How much does child care generally cost? Is it hard to find nursary places. What about shared nanies? Should I start panicing now?
Any info or advice gratefully accepted.

Mamonie
Don't know anything about nannies, but can tell you that f/t nursery costs about £600-£800 a month. I think childminders are cheaper but have no experience of these myself. Good luck with it all.

mamonie

don't want to scare you but we are paying £900+ for a ft nursery place (SW London). if you get a nanny (not a share) through an agency it would cost at least double this. neither would be tax deductible.

if you are looking for a nursery place i would start now.

try www.bestbear.co.uk for reviewed nanny and au pair agencies or www.childcarelink.gov.uk for a list of nurseries and registered childminders (covers whole uk, but not exhaustive list - contact the local authority directly - number on the site - for a full up to date list). you could also try www.simplychildcare.co.uk.

good luck and hope that helps.

I live in Islington, central London. Friends of mine have their daughter at a full-time private nursery (she is now 18 months, has been there 1 year) and they pay £250 per week. You should definitely put her name down ASAP for a nursery place as they are so limited for children under 1 due to staff ratios. I put my son's name down for a local authority nursery when he was a year old, he's 3 next week and his placement has just come through!!

Luckily I've found a community (co-operatively run) playgroup which takes children full time from the age of 2½. The fees there for working parents are £90 per week as far as I know. My son's placement is funded by the local authority as he has special needs and I have health and mobility problems, but it's a brilliant deal for working parents I think. Before he went to playgroup he went to a childminder's 3 days a week and that cost £3 per hour.

In advance of your move, do get in touch with the Under-5s section of the local council and get a list of childminders and nurseries - in my experience it's never too soon to apply!

sorry - should be www.simplychildcare.com

I leave in Kent, and and it's 900 GBP for the nursery (full time)- forget the tax deductible bit in this country !
A nanny outside London is 1500 GBP on average (out of YOUR wallet). I think you should look into sharing a nanny or childminder if you are hoping to spend 500GBP a month.
I think there is a magazine called The Lady ???? which does a lot of advertisisng for nannies.

Good luck.

I live not leave.... sorry got a cold and can't think straight !

I saw a nursery advertisement yesterday saying their fees were £395 per calendar month. The other local nurseries here charge around £25 to £28 a day. A childminder will charge anything from £2.00 to £3.50 a hour.

I hope we're not scaring you!

Nursery costs that we looked into ranged from £1200 f/t for a baby under 1 (in central London near our workplaces) to the £650 that we ended up paying until our son was 2. His fees are now £500 per month in outer London, also full-time. He is at a workplace nursery that does not charge the full commercial rate.
The only thing that you can say about nursery childcare costs is that they do fall as the child gets older, especially at 3 plus.
But, Mamonie, as others have said, it's not so much the cost as finding a place, and that is a complete lottery depending on your UK location. Good luck, sorry if we all sound like scary mummies.

In St Albans nurseries are between £930 and £1040 a month, that is £43 - £48 a day. There is a new one just been built, the Centre of Excellence. itwas full from the end of the first month. People are taking the odd afternoon or morning here until they can build up enough days to go back to work. I pity the mums having to send them whilst not working, but thet is virtually the only way to get a place.

I know a brilliant childminder !! ( Me!!!)

Bossykate

Did you actually subscribe to simply.childcare.com? Would you recommend them? I'm slightly desperate having not signed up for a nursery before birth and now decided that yes, I should go back to work. Incidentally, a nursery here in Wimbledon costs between £42 and $52 a day.

florenceuk

i was able to get a place at one of our local nurseries so did not need to use simplychildcare in the end. ds's place came through just as i was about to widen my search...

fwiw - i would have used them if necessary - e.g. if we had decided to go down a nanny share route if the nursery place had not come up in time. sorry, i know that's a long way from a recommendation. someone else may be able to be more help.

good luck.

Pamina - yes please! You can email me on "[email protected]" - thanks!!!!

I am amazed at the nursery costs being quoted here. In Brighton we pay £100p.w. for a f/t place for our son. If he was under 2 the cost would be about £120p.w. It actually makes me think we're getting quite a good deal now!

Mamonie - I would definitely get in touch with nurseries now. The waiting list is usually horrendous.

This is the first chance I've had to look at all teh replies to my question. Thanks for all the info. I am now in a state of shock and panic. Luckily dh has yet to find a job in the UK so he can look after dd until we find something (we won't be able to pay for childcare on one salary anyway). Still, I'd better start looking now since I'm not sure that he will like being a permenant house husband even if dd and I would both love it.

Anyone know of any good nurseries in the Solihull area, and the likely charges?
The babe I am looking after temporarily will be moving up there in the summer and the mum mentionned she would have to find one, so I said I'd ask the mine of info on here!

Don't know about the Solihull area, but when I enquired about a nursery place for my DD the charges were going to be £318.50 per calendar month for two days a week. Luckily, my SIL stepped in and offered to help the two days I work as I have her two children the two days she works. I still pay her £150 per month (less than half what it would cost me in nursery fees) as I have 3 children and she only has 2.