Childcare costs and going back to work - is this normal?

[Mysterycat23]

Before LO was born I was earning £10 per hour before tax. My work day was 7 hours paid. So £70 a day before tax. I'd like to go back to work 3 days per week so £210 per week before tax. Online tax calculator suggests after tax would be income of £203.39.

I've been looking into nursery fees and they are £50 to £55 per day in the area near my workplace. So £150 to £165 per week.

My train would cost £6.80 per day (no season ticket as not working full time). £20.40

Dog walker costs £8 per day. £24

So per week I'd earn £9.39.

I'm aware the cost of childcare is joint between me and DH. I'm putting it in terms of my earnings because as you can tell from my wage I don't have a high powered career to get back to. If it's financially pointless to go back then I honestly don't want the added stress. I would of course love to earn more but that's another thread.

Financially we are really struggling and that's with me on £140.98 per week maternity allowance, with no transport or dog walker costs! What can I do?

Is it just me or is £9.39 for 3 days work ridiculous? Is there something I've missed? Or are the majority of working mums looking at figures like these?

Yep it's about right and yes it's rubbish!

This is why lots of parents chose to stay at home while others decide to work purely to keep their job.

No profit to be brought home.

Childminders tend to be cheaper and most accept vouchers!

Yes perfectly normal and why we have a big age gap between kids as two in nursery wasn't going to happen.

A slight word of warning. I stayed at home and had to wait till my youngest got to 3 and 15 subsidised hours at nursery. It's taken me months to get back into work.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful and helpful responses. Writing it out and reading responses is helping me sort it out in my own mind so thank you.

According to government checker could get £1500 per year in tax credits to help with childcare costs of £7500 per year. So cost could go down to £115 per week giving earnings of £35 + £9.39 = £44.39

With a day at home that's £109.19 earned per week which seems more worthwhile.

I did apply for tax credits when DS was born but it seemed to be based on last year's income so we weren't eligible. I don't understand the logic but hey ho.

The job is good as low stress, nice environment, nice colleagues. There is no opportunity for advancement or training. Working from home and flexi time are company policies but I'm not aware of it being allowed for someone at my grade, my job is too junior. I'm in quite a good negotiating position however as the temp they hired to replace me walked out (my immediate boss is notoriously difficult to work with, before I was hired they had burned through a couple of candidates, but I actually get on with her really well ). I guess if the job as it stands doesn't work for me then I have nothing to lose by negotiating hard. (I didn't qualify for maternity pay/leave so legally they don't have to take me back at all)

Yes we have always had a dog walker. We both work in other cities so the day is too long not to. If I worked close to the house with long lunch break I could do this instead. That means a new job with flexi time.

With the posters who've said working from home, I'm now thinking if virtual assistant or remote working might be possible. I saw an ad for social media training for mums that claimed a 95% employment rate in flexible and work from home roles. Will chase it up.

I'm also wondering with the posters who've described working different days to overlap childcare with their OH, if I could do this with any of my friends who are in a similar position, so we could take turns looking after our children in the week.

Couldn't find anything on 0-1 free hours but there are free hours in my area for 2 year old, DH earns over the threshold though.

If you're earning £210 per week, childcare vouchers for you are practically pointless as you aren't over the tax threshold so no tax and the whole point of childcare vouchers is that it saves you tax.

I was going to say the same as bythebeach.. the personal allowance is £11500 (I think?) so you won't have to pay tax? Drop in the ocean I know x

Have just quickly looked at VA / remote working on people per hour, digital mums etc. Don't think my work experience is right for it. Far too daunting to suddenly become an expert in seo and Google ad words. I'm also not a hustler. Just an employee.

My experience is in administration including managing large databases, advanced Excel etc. (Do have a stem degree but gave up trying to use it) I have done project management but I don't know if it counts as was such a small charity. I felt out of my depth for most of it and the stress was immense.

I would be up for training for a better paying career if only I could have guaranteed success. No way am I sacrificing time and going into yet more debt for another degree that will be useless.

I'm struggling here not to just feel incredibly depressed. DH is struggling with his mental health as he knows we're sinking into credit cards to get by and he blames himself. Even though he's recently negotiated a pay rise, he was devastated that it's still not enough to make ends meet.

We're down to the bare bones of existence and I'm ebaying everything I can find. What am I missing, people have children all the time! Is everyone secretly in debt too? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Could the OPs partner claim childcare vouchers from his salary?

Good news re tax credits. Other things you could do:

• Check out childminder rather than nursery, they are usually cheaper.

• DH to claim childcare vouchers from work if he can. Not all workplaces offer them, but it is worth doing if he does. Note that will reduce your overall childcare bill so you will only get TCs for the amount you actually pay, iyswim. So eg if your childcare would be £100 a week but vouchers mean you only pay £80 a week, you'll get TCs as though you pay £80 rather than £100. Still worth doing though.

• As you're married and you're not using your full personal allowance, you can transfer £1100 of it to him. Saves you about £200 a year. £4 a week extra in your pocket, I know it isn't loads but it all adds up!

• Have you done a full bills and bank accounts audit recently? You have to do it every few months to make sure you're still on the cheapest packages and offers for things. Even things like switching to bank accounts that give you a tenner cashback a month between you, little things they can all add up.

I think it is worth it. Yes, you won't earn much for the next couple of years but you will get pension contributions & any other benefits your employer offers & you will get more income once your DC qualifies for the free hours.
Can you increase your hours on the three days your working? An extra hour a day on each of those days is over £100 a month.

We have 4 kids ( teenagers now) and the only way to both work was to work around each other so I did weekends and nights, and dh works 9-5. Is there any way you could do this, obviously you might need to change jobs.

I am in a professional job and just about break even after nursery costs for one child so it doesn't surprise me I'm afraid. I go to work two days a week because it helps my sanity (also pensions etc).
Unfortunately childminders round here are a similar price to nurseries if you are using them for a whole day. (£3.50 an hour?? I wish!).
Pretty much everyone I know who has gone back to work has family help with childcare, so I think this is how a lot of people make it add up. I get quite frustrated with friends who are constantly moaning about how MIL has done x y and z minor annoyances while looking after their child for free every week as I just don't have that option.

Nursery gets cheaper at age 2. Then cheaper again at age 3 with the funded hours. So it is just for two years it might not seem worth working but often it is worth it to keep your job especially if it's a pt job as they're hard to get.

Yep it's rubbish. It gets better though. When they turn 3 you should get 30 free hours and you might at 2.
You have to think long term-
If you keep working your future earning potential is most likely much higher.

We got round it with grandparent help but appreciate not everyone is that fortunate.

Not all nurseries get cheaper at 2 - mine doesn't.

PS not trying to be negative or anything but something that has affected me from the financial point of view is that anything that stops the child from going to nursery (illness, hospital appointments, bank holidays...) means that I don't get paid for that day but I still have to pay the full nursery day....
Not sure how this works with childminders.
Again, most friends I know who work are able to ask grandparents to have the child when they're ill.

Have you ever considered finding a new home for your dog? Then, if you returned to work (a job you like) and didn't have to pay for a dog walker (& all the associated dog expenses - vet, insurance, food etc.) you would probably have an extra £150-200 pm. This would lessen your debt and perhaps take some strain off your DH and help his mental health. Of course, if you consider your dog as part of the family, that may not be something you would want to consider.

Instead of going back to uni to retrain have you considered looking at grad schemes? Many of them are open to people who aren't 'just graduated' and would train you for a decent career.

I started one when I was 25 - so older than most of the others but there were a few in late 20s/early 30s. With a STEM degree and advanced excel you'd be in a good position for something in financial services potentially.

Well, this is a depressing read.

They need to do something about childcare in the UK asap.

Sorry, ranting, as you were comrades.

My full salary go to my childminder at the moment, I have 3. I gave up my pre-career break job after my 2nd, I did actually have some left after paying 2 x nursery fee but I just didn't have enough time in the day to do everything that I suppose to do so I gave up my job to look after my children, also support my husband's career as I am always there for our kids round the clock.

I am back to work after 8-9 years, it is so sad that I have to start everything from scratch, earning 60% of what i used to earn (which I don't mind) but having to face "ageism" as my colleague are fairly young (He is 30 - it is junior role after all) and enjoy "authority" because he has been there longer but less skilled than me. The job is very boring and unchallenging some days I just want to give up all together!

I would keep going unless you have a good network of people who will help you in finding job if you want to return to work in the future. Childcare cost will not last forever :)