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Original poster

seriously, how do mums afford to work??

167 replies

omaoma · 16/07/2009 01:23

am currently on ML and wondering about getting back to work. looking at what the cheapest childcare might cost me in London, once i factor in travel, i think i will be left with approximately £4 a day. i am not exaggerating. what on earth is the point? am i missing something??? £4 for all the hassle of rushing to drop off/pick up in time, deal with sick days, deal with work stress, and miss my gorgeous daughter for 10 hours a day. how do you all manage?

OP posts:
carrielou2007 · 17/07/2009 21:10

I work as I have no choice. I am a single parent so if I don't work I can't pay my morgage. My house is of course an asset but only if I can keep paying my morgage.

I have an ok salary that means I can work 3 days a week, pay my bills, pay my CM though I have nothing left over.

I have no DH to support me. I would love the government to pay me a lot more, I do get a small amount of tax credits and I use the full 243 of childcare vouchers from my salary. When I take ML I will use up the last of my savings for the 6 months I will be off.

I have been super strict with all my outgoings. I changed my (lovely) car to a modest car of which I would not normally even contemplate but being a lot cheaper, hey it's not forever is it.

Hopefully I will only have one year to pay for two places at my CM as then my dd will start school and it should get easier (clings onto that hope).

If you earn too much that you don't qualify for tax credits your salary would be over 50K. I used to earn in excess of this before having dd, no way near it now but I could manage very easily if I still brought home 3k a month whilst paying 40% tax!!

AnnieLobeseder · 18/07/2009 17:34

Um, nope, we're nowhere near 50K and don't get any tax credits at all.

ruddynorah · 18/07/2009 22:00

if you're no where near £50k then you should be getting at least the £545 minumum, pplus another £545 if you have a child under 1.

AnnieLobeseder · 19/07/2009 11:27

We get child beneft, not tax credits.

carrielou2007 · 19/07/2009 12:05

You should, unless you are not using rgistered childcare (i.e. grandparents there is no payment). I can do links but entitled to has an online calculator you can enter all your info to find out.

When I went back to work after ML for dd they based my allowance on my previous years salary despite me giving them my new annual part time salary (I now know they can do a review but didn't at the time.) The previous year was part ML so my salary was about 46k and I got 81.88 per month. At the annual reviw it then went up to reflect the much much much lower salary.

ruddynorah · 19/07/2009 17:43

sorry i'm talking about the absolute basic tax credits. the £545 and the extra £545 for a child under one, nothing to do with the childcare element.

MorrisZapp · 28/07/2009 18:14

Can I just ask, what is considered 'a decent salary' in terms of it being worthwhile going back to work?

I earn 26k and live in a high cost city (Edinburgh) where I assume childcare is not cheap though prob not as high as London.

If I was in OP position would it be worth working? Theoretical question btw as don't have DCs yet.

DP earns similar amount.

messalina · 28/07/2009 21:22

It's an absolute bummer but even if you are just breaking even, I would say it's worth it if you enjoy your job. I really feel for Stuck at Home Mums (a great turn of phrase by the way). The cost of childcare is outrageous. And what is even worse are the hidden "extras" - like having to pay when the childminder is on holiday, when your child is sick, when it's a bank holiday. Bloody outrage.

BoffinMum · 28/07/2009 21:38

Childcare would be a lot cheaper if the Government hadn't stuck its oar in and over-regulated it, putting the costs up massively. Round here costs have doubled in the last nine years.

hf128219 · 28/07/2009 21:42

Oh god it's tricky to put a price on your own sanity if you love your job and want to work.

I however would not have gone back if I was still not clearing at least 50% of my take home pay after full-time nursery and travel.

BonsoirAnna · 28/07/2009 21:47

"I completely disagree that our childcare should be paid for by everyone else. You have to take personal responsiblity for your own actions, and that includes having children."

I agree!

sweetkitty · 28/07/2009 22:01

I agree with being a bit of a Stuck at Home Mum as well although I have decided to make the most of it. Annie - I was a microbiologist as well may it's a microbiologist thing. I have a 5yo a 3yo and a 1yo and there is no way I could afford to work. DH is out the house from 6am to nearly 7pm 5 days a week and we have no family help, I could work weekends but that's the only time DH and I get to see each other and have some family time. We relocated and there are no jobs in my field around here and as I am not skilled in anything else I am virtually unemployable, I am looking at uni courses for next year though as I think thats the way forward.

JemL · 29/07/2009 15:18

tax credits calculator

We earn about £26k between us and get £67 per week tax credits which pays childcare costs.

I would not work if it was not for tax credits!

ChocHobNob · 04/08/2009 15:19

Anyone with a household income of below £55,000 approx gets some Child Tax Credits

If you earn under £50,000 a year, you will get at least £45 Child Tax Credits a month. Someone has told you the incorrect information.

We would not be better off if I worked at the moment. I am a SAHM to a 4 yr old and 19 month old. We would qualify for working tax credits for childcare, which would probably work out at us being the same financially as we are now ... factoring in then transport/car costs etc would mean we would be worse off. Worse off isn't an option as we struggle now.

My husband works 12 hour shifts which are on a 6 week rota so it's even impossible for me to work around his hours so he can do the childcare.

I desperately want to work but am holding out for when my eldest starts school and my husband's shifts go down to 8 hours and we might actually be able to work something out.

Childcare is ridiculously expensive and I do wish, in hindsight, that I had sorted out my career before having my kiddies. It would have made things simpler.

PavlovtheForgetfulCat · 04/08/2009 15:25

DH and I both work part time so we can share the child care. I agree that it has helped with me earning a good wage prior to children so the reduction in hours is not too devestating. It is tight, and we have had to cut back on many many luxuries, but this way we get to spend time with the LO, work, AND afford to live. (i say that, DH is currently out of work, due to redundancy, this was how we lived, and how we will do it again once he is working).

We get, with both of us working, £40 per month ctc, no wtc as over the threshold. It is not much, but it pays for a day's childcare each month, along with child benefit, which pays for 2 days a month.

indiechick · 04/08/2009 16:49

This is why I get so cross that childcare tax credits are calculated on joint income. Why should I not get help with childcare because of my husband's salary? If someone doesn't earn enough to cover childcare for their children, they should get tax credits to enable them to work, no matter what their other half earns. Why should I have to stay at home just because my DH earns a fair salary?^

Because you're married and he's their father and it's his responsibility to provide for them as well as yours.

I'm talking about people like myself. I'm a low earner, I would like to go back to work, but I would actually have to work at a loss after childcare. As such, I would like a temporary respite in the amount of tax I pay, by receiving childcare tax credits. In return, I am bringing children into the world who will pay taxes in the future. If I can't work, I don't pay tax at all. If I do work, I pay tax, albeit a reduced amount. But the government still gets a better deal by enabling me to work by helping me with childcare. I don't expect a handout - it seems like a fair deal to me.

But you could reduce your tax by getting childcare vouchers. I think you're being quite unreasonable really.

ssd · 10/08/2009 13:37

but not everywhere does the childcare vouchers

lal123 · 10/08/2009 13:43

I feel so lucky - my DMIL has looked after DD1 since she was 6 months while I've worked full-time. DP works full time too - and we've both got relatively well paid jobs. DD2 due in 10 weeks time, and by the time I'm due to come back to work I don't think we'll be able to leave DD2 with MIL - not sure how we'll cope then!

K999 · 10/08/2009 13:47

My childcare costs are £900 per month but that will get less as each year goes on. And me and DP get vouchers to help - they are more of a tax free benefit. Its not forever and I am looking forward to the day when that £900 will be mine again......

stealthsquiggle · 10/08/2009 13:47

Childcare vouchers are the only non means-tested 'break' you get, a huge (if still insufficient) help, and if your employer doesn't do them you should do everything in your power to persuade them - there is a benefit for them as well as they don't have to pay employers NI contributions on whatever you take as childcare vouchers.

Other than that I am afraid that any job where you have to factor in a significant amount of commuting time is going to make the sums harder - especially as 'out of hours' (i.e. outside 8am-6pm) childcare is even more expensive.

AnnieLobeseder · 10/08/2009 13:49

Oh, this thread has popped up again, has it. And I'm being quoted at!

Indiechick - my calculations do include childcare vouchers, which I'm lucky that my employer introduced.

And I stand by my belief that I shouldn't be penalised by having a 'high-earning' DH. So what?! Should I be grateful that I can be the little woman at home? Cos I'm bloody not! I'm my own person and deserve my own tax breaks, thanks very much! Like I said before, I'm not asking for benefits, I paid tax and will continue to pay tax. I'd just like to pay a little less tax to enable me to work. They government would still get money out of me!

Childcare rates are crippling in this country, and in most other countries it either costs a lot less or is heavily government-subsidised. Because other countries' goverments realise that having mothers in work is better all round.

stealthsquiggle · 10/08/2009 13:49

I agree - baby care (up to 24mths) is as expensive as it gets - so if you can survive (albeit just) and not having too big a 'gap' is important in career terms then it is quite possibly worth doing on the basis that the finances will improve from there on in.

K999 · 10/08/2009 13:53

Childcare rates (ie those charged by a CM) can be anything between £4-£7 (depending on where you live) and imo that is not a lot of money to pay someone per hour.....

stealthsquiggle · 10/08/2009 13:58

K999 - that is what is most galling - it's not a lot of money per hour - at CM or nursery - and the people concerned do a great job for a low wage, but by the time you have factored in the fact that you typically have to pay for more hours than you get paid for (to include commuting) and that you are paying it (with the exception of childcare vouchers) out of net (post-tax) income it can wipe out a salary which is nominally not bad at all.

idranktheteaatwork · 10/08/2009 13:58

Tax credits are a benefit though Annielobseder and actually if your husbansd is a high earner then you are far better off than an awful lot of people on here.
I think it is awfully cheeky to expect to receive benefits in effect as a single person with one income when in actual fact you are married and have/would have two incomes.

It would be utterly wrong if a married woman received the same amount of tax credits as a single woman for childcare, the two circumstances are totally different,

And also, the whole point of tax credits is that they are means tested, your household income is the deciding factor.