Actually can't afford childcare

[CaptWingoBings]

Have previously been in the blessed position of free family provided childcare but that is coming to an end. We currently have just enough money for our expenditures (not extravagant). We will need to find an extra £800 a month for childcare for our two DC. Maybe this is a bit less with childcare vouchers? Perhaps £600?

So I suppose options are: earn £600 more without incurring more childcare costs to do so. Severe budgeting: no more swimming lessons, feed family on £1.

Have I missed something? Want to explore all our options so we make an informed decision.

Re-jig hours so that you don't need childcare? Swap child care days with another mum / family member? Change jobs so you can work from home?

How old are your children? You can receive a free 15 hr p/w place for children of 3 years and the same for children over 2 years if you qualify. Childminders can offer a 50% discount for siblings sometimes and some childrens centres offer subsidised childcare.

DC2 will be 3 but won't get 15hrs till Jan but I had forgotten to take those into calculation. DC1 is school age.

Can't rejig hours as I have core hours 7-7 and DH has no control over hours. Neither of us can work from home without changing jobs... Will think about some sort of childcare swap but think that might be quite tricky to arrange.

Thanks.

We used savings to cover childcare for a while when we had 2 dc in nursery. Considered it a short term investment in y long term earning power.

Yes that's what I'm telling myself. Not that we have savings! The most lucrative thing we could do would be for me to stay at home full time while DH works full time but that has implications long term for me

Are you better off financially with one parent staying at home?

And I mean better off than the £1 a day for food scenario.

Sorry crossposted

Can one or both of you apply for flexible working? There's only very limited reasons it can be refused.

How would flexible working help? I can work flexibly within hours of 7-7 but DH has no entitlement to flexible work nor even fixed shifts.

Every parent of an under 5 has the right to apply for flexible working. Doesn't mean the employer has to agree, but they have to consider it and give "business reasons" why it won't work.

To be brutally honest, finding childcare to cover one parent working 7-7 (plus commute presumably) and one parent with unpredictable shifts is difficult even with plenty of money. If there really is no scope for changing your hours I suspect that one or both of you will need to consider a job change realistically ...

What do you do? We could suggest flexible working patterns that might work or related fields you could consider?

Childcare voucher salary sacrifice can be up to 243 a month for each of you, so that's 486 you could use before tax which would help.

Flexible Working Request see here - one of you could apply to work part time or term-time only... Or for DH to have set shifts or a regular shift pattern or whatever.

Ah Right. Yes, DH has applied to work part time & they have said he is eligible but haven't confirmed whether a part time post will be available. But we are hoping we will only have childcare 3 days a week if that works out.

But his hours won't be fixed within those days iyswim & I have a commute so we can't set up a system of staggered early starts/late finishes.

tax credits

Don't think we qualify for them as our income is £2k a month. They stopped a year ago.

Sorry to be negative, but are you even sure you can get childcare until 7pm? I know that DS's nursery closed at 6pm, I'm not sure you'd get care that late if your DH was working at that time and so were you.

I don't work 7-7, I work a 37hr week, I was unclear earlier as I thought flexible working meant flexible hours rather than part time working (different in my head!).

Sorry to put a downer here too. With an one hour commute, and nursery being only 8-6, my effective office hours are actually 9.15 to 4.30, if I do both drop off and pick up. I usually leave between 3-4pm just to make sure I don't get stuck in traffic! (DH away with family emergency atm). I'm lucky my work is flexible (but full time). I catch up at night and in weekends and it's really hard, but it's temporary for us. Usually DH drops off and I get in the office at 8 and leave at 4.30. DH works local so if there's an accident on the motorway, DH picks up too. Are you sure you can be at the nursery at the right time? Family care is so much easier.

Flexible usually means the ability to work outside the standard office hours to me. I think that's what you mean right? If you leave at 7, can your husband do drop off? Or vice versa?

People with long hours usually use nannies.

How about childcare close to work?

Can one of you work weekend days ? I know it's not ideal but could save a lot.

mandy, I can tell you from experience that it's nigh on impossible to work from home with small child(ren) around. Been trying doing without childcare for 2.5 years and have all but scuppered my job. A lot more distraction and the inevitable mistakes due to trying to do two things at once means I'm having to find new clients all the time, which is fair enough as that's what you have to do anyway, but is not the way I want to operate.

Agree with duchess. I'm working some days at home currently because DH is away for a month. I still put DD in nursery. What I save this way is only the 2 hour commute. Which means I can get more done within office hours and not having to catch up.

It won't solve the money issue. (I didn't touch on that as my pay is enough to cover my childcare). I was just worried about the logistic the OP is going to have to juggle with their current jobs. I know it won't be possible for me except DHs job also flexible and is local (20min cycle which means it's impossible to get delayed. He picks up the unpredictably I have with commuting). And ofc my job being actually really office hours.

So you don't actually work 7-7?

What time do you have to be out the house and what time return? If 37 hrs a week is part time, can that be over 3 long days? 3 12ish hr days would leave you 4 days free a week. And only 3 days childcare needed

If your dh can do nursery/ school drop off on those days ten finish later himself, then you could probably get just an afternoon nanny 3 afternoons/Eve's a week. 3-7/8pm.

Say 3-8pm x3 days. £8-10per hr, £120-150 a week. An afternoon nanny who can bring own child to your house might charge less. If dh can be home by 7pm then that's 3 hrs less a week needed etc