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Original poster

Paying grandma for childcare

11 replies

emmyroo · 15/05/2007 14:16

My mum will be looking after my 2 children part-time shortly.

I'm not sure whether I need to pay her, and if so, how much.

What do you do?

OP posts:

wurlywurly · 15/05/2007 14:23

ask her. My mum used to look after ds1 when i went back to work and we agreed on something minimal, think it was about £20 a week and i supplied what he needed.

nailpolish · 15/05/2007 14:23

i fyou pay a relative to do childcare dont they have to be registered?

i could be TOTALLY WRONG though

BibiThree · 15/05/2007 14:29

I think if you claim tax credits/vouchers towards childcare and they childcare is a relative, they have to be registered, otherwise they're not classed as official childcare.

We don't pay our relatives, but we didn't ask, they offered. A friend of mine pays her Mum, but the amount her Mum lost when she gave up her part time job to look after the kids.

BibiThree · 15/05/2007 14:29

And, they wouldn't accept payment anyway. We get by with buying them flowers and things every now and then as a thank you.

tombley · 15/05/2007 14:32

You should discuss this with your mum. My mum would be terribly offended if I had tried to pay her for the last 5 years of child care she has provided for me. However she was retired when I had DD and didn't need to change her circumstances to help me. I have always provided everything they need (except lunch once they were on the usual sandwiches) but whenever I have provided money for days out it always comes back.

My very good friend however is paying her mum the salary she was getting at work to now look after her boys.

ThursdayNext · 15/05/2007 14:36

What does your mum want? My mum says she doesn't want proper payment, but I leave her around £15 to pay for playgroup, lunch if she wants to take DS out, busfares etc. But she only looks after DS for one day a week, if it was more than that I would try harder to make her accept a more formal arrangement.

DontCallMeBaby · 15/05/2007 14:40

I think that, even if paid, a relative doesn't need to be registered to look after your child, but I can't find anything definitive off-hand. I do know that paying anything other that expenses could lead to your mum needing to pay tax on the money though, so you should look out for that if you pay her.

sweetheart · 15/05/2007 14:45

My mum is retired and is my childminder. When we agreed this she said she didn't want payment but I knew that the extra money would come in handy for her and my dad.

I told her that if she would not accept payment I would get someone else who would cost me more.

I would have been looking at around £400 a month if I used a registered childminder so my mum and I agreed I'd pay her £200. I also provide everything my children need in the way of food, milk, nappies etc etc

She is helping me out by being a cheap (and probably the best) childcare and I am helping her out by giving her a little bit extra cash each month. I pay it directly to her bank so we don't have to actually have the moment where I hand her cash though

In this scenario - we both win!

sweetheart · 15/05/2007 14:49

oh and from a legal point of view - she doesn't need to be registered unless you are claiming tax credits and declaring spending on childcare. Also the emergency tax code this year is 522L so the average person should be able to earn £5,220 before they pay tax so as long as you pay her less than that a year (April to April) she won't have to pay tax either!

chocolatekimmy · 15/05/2007 21:03

My mum has looked after mine on and off for half a day a week for free. I just buy her flowers, take her to bingo or pay for lunch when we go out and now and then give her £50 or so.

She is going to now have 2 for a whole day when I go back to work and she said she wants £1 per hour. I know that soungs cheap but she has never wanted payment like a wage as such. She has wanted to help as she knows how hard it is and she didn't have any help herself when we were young. She is also looking after my sisters boy for 2 days a week and his brother after school for 1 day a week so it will add up to a decent amount a week.

I have also just paid for her to go on a basic child/baby first aid course

Lolly68 · 16/05/2007 15:05

My MIL looked after my DD when I went back to work and didnt charge us anything. It got too much for her in the end though cos she is in her 70s. Now she is in full time nursery so the cost rocketed somewhat!

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