I was until a few months ago a lone parent, with two age 7 and 9.
I'm 48 this Autumn.
I went back to work when my youngest was 6.
I had no childcare help from their bio father or my extended family, or friends. I relied totally on childcare providers, in my case a local charity school holiday club.
I work flexible hours between 20-25 a week 9.30-2.30 so it fits around school hours.
Tax credits paid me £850 a month plus 75% of childcare costs. That's as a lone parent. I don't yet know how much tax credits I'll get in the foreseeable future as I've now moved in with my partner.
So yes, you can afford childcare working 16 hours a week.
You just have to bear in mind they ask you to calculate the average weekly cost of your childcare over one year, and they then pay that average weekly, or monthly.
For example, my childcare costs this last tax year were about £5.30 a week on average but I still had to find lump sums of what I actually have to pay the childcare provider which is £170 for a week.
Tax credits pay your childcare costs over the year. They won't give me £170 every time I need a week's childcare.
So you need to save those lump sums up every time school holidays come round and you have to pay for childcare.
How to get school time hours
I worked for two different firms, both of which allowed school hours, despite not actually advertising such hours.
I just asked about it at both interviews. The interviewers were also both mothers which may have made them more flexible about hours as they understood my responsibilities.
One was the boss so she was happy to negotiate hours with me, but the other was just a training supervisor and at first she was worried my hours request would muck the HR department around offering different set hours to individuals. But she wangled it with HR because I pressed her to. By pressed I just mean had a chat about it, explained how it wouldn't affect their business, how I'd keep it quiet and not mention it to other employees, etc.
In my experience, the notorious end of the job market will be more flexible with your hours just because they have a high staff turnover. I'm talking telesales, temp contracts, catering, etc.
I currently work an ad hoc hours temp contract 9.30-2.30 which is perfect school hours.
Ask your temp agency to investigate new small business startups in your town as they often require temporary or flexible employees whilst they get their business going.
It's also easy to find these businesses yourself - just check out the most cheapest commercial units (offices or industrial) in town and they'll have new businesses moving in all the time. You can even get cash in hand by offering your admin or cleaning services to one of these businesses if you just walk round a start-up industrial estate or cheap commercial offices complex asking about work.
I work in one of these places, and another business down the corridor from me got his teenage daughter a job just by asking us if we needed a cleaner. Making yourself known is useful. They are friendly places, everyone's starting out together. And they're in bed with temp agencies.
Finally, you won't be working for free if you get a part time job of 16 hours. You're very similar to my situation as regards older lone parent, similar age kids. I get around £850 month in a Working Tax Credit, 75% of my childcare costs paid for by tax credits, a wage of £136 a week, Child Benefit of £136 a month, and if I was eligible housing benefit and council tax benefit too (I'm not eligible because of savings).
The school holiday childcare weeks will seem like you're working for free, but it's what you have to accept if you want to have a work ethic. Otherwise, really, just watch an episode of those People On Benefits (the ones who make a career of it insisting they're 'entitled' to) and see if you want to live like that forever..