What are childcare costs of going back to work?

[cazaraghi]

Hi-- trying to help a friend figure out how much her childcare costs will be when she goes back to work, so she can decide how many days she needs to work.

I'm a non-mum, so don't have experience. Does anyone have any tips? Are there any good websites for this to help you calculate costs?

She thinks that she can use GPs to cover a day or two, but isn't sure how much she can ask of them. And she doesn't want all her salary to go on childcare.

Help greatly appreciated!

Tell her to contact local Childminder's and Nurseries for daily costs

Call up the possible nurseries / childminders / nannies she is considering and find out the costs of the days per week she requires?

Impossible question to answer as each setting will have different charges and it varies a lot by area. As PP said, only way is to contact individual settings to find out.

Ball park- £50 - £80 per day for nursery, £5 - 8 per hour for CM.

If she's part of a couple, it shouldn't be her salary that goes on childcare; it should be a joint expense. Now the level of joint expenses might mean that in the short term, there is no increase in household income. But there's quite a difference in looking at it as 'her' issue (both to arrange and to judge earnings against) and seeing it as a joint issue.

The question about costs simply cannot be answered here, because they vary so much. And of course the practical point of availability (both existing locally to her and having a vacancy) plus ages of the DC and when nursery and school come into the picture.

The council will have lists of childcare providers somewhere on their website (nurseries and childminders). Nannies and au pairs you'll need to approach agencies for, or advertise directly. Nannies are probably the most expensive option, au pair might be the cheapest but they are usually not qualified and may be inexperienced and should not be used for sole charge for younger children.

Childminders are usually cheaper than nurseries, and can be more flexible.

I find the website uk salary calculator very helpful for calculating pro rata salary.

Varies hugely between geographical areas and depending on whether you use nursery, childminder, nanny etc. We pay £960 a month for full time nursery (under 2). 4 days is no cheaper than 5 days, which may be a consideration. The new tax free childcare scheme should save her £2000 per year.

Thank you all so much - she's finding it quite stressful. She's the main breadwinner (earns 2x her partner's salary), so they rely on her salary for mortgage etc.

I did some research and found this website - www.childcare.co.uk/ - has anyone used it? Is it accurate for costs?

Trying to save time doing the ringarounds of local places!!

It varies so much between area and type (nanny, nursery, childminder) that you really won't get any meaningful answers here.

You need to ring around I'm afraid, or at least email lots of different setting as fees vary hugely as well as was is and isn't included (nappies, milk, food etc).

We pay £10.5k a year for FT nursery in term time.

Thank you - as a non-mum, I had no idea it was so expensive and complicated. I'll need to look at the tax-free scheme as well as I don't think my friend knows about it.

I will get to ringing around. And then I guess I'll need a spreadsheet to figure out the best option!

Really appreciate you helping a newbie.

It really varies area to area. We pay about £70 per day at nursery (8-6). Our eldest qualifies for the 30 hours next month thank buggery.

I pay £25 per day for childminder but have to provide lunch and dinner. She does breakfast, snacks and drinks. Drop off 7.30 pick up 6. She does seem to be very cheap though

I find it a bit odd that you are doing this for your friend down to having the spreadsheet?

Shouldn't she and her DH be sitting down and sorting it out together? I would have thought it would make financial sense if she goes back FT, her DH drops to 2 days a week and GPs cover those two days. Only they can make that sort of decision as a family though.