How did you cope & for how long?

Nikabella

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

I'm confused (doesn't take much!) wouldn't you qualify for CTC then if your joint income is under 60K?
When my 2 were at nursery the bill used to be just over 1K a month - they are both at school now and I feel quite rich in comparison!

Yes, sorry I wasn't very clear, we get CTC but it is only £10 per week (not that I am complaning I personally didn't expect any money for having a child). It is the WTC that you get that pays for childcare, that the poster had been talking about, for which you need to be on a very low income.

We always discuss how we didn't realise how rich we were before having DD lol.

HTH.

A.x

the_other_mce

Nikabella wrote: »

"The current system is fairly generous - and don't forget working mums can get most of their childcare costs back in tax credits"

"Don't you have to be on over $45K a year in order not to qualify for tax credits? if so I wouldn't consider this a really low wage) - or have I got that wrong? - I know you need to work a certain minimum number of hours per week and use an OFSTED registered childcare provider"

I believe you need to be on less than £60k per year to qualify for CTC, however, what you are talking about is working tax credit. My partner & I only earn around £40k between us know that I am working part-time and we do not receive WTC, which is meant to help cover childcare. We enquired as to whether we would be entitled to WTC if I quit work (so that I was able to return to uni full time) & was told that even on £25k we would not be entitled, so you need to be a very low income family to recieve this.

Our childcare for one child 3 days per week is £400 per month (which is cheap around here) & my salary after tax is only about £800 after pension, flexible benefits etc. Once we have two children I will effectively earn nothing if I return to work. Luckily at the moment we get Childcare Vouchers which means we do not pay tax or NI on £243 worth of our DD's childcare, saving us £80 per month.

So, the other mce, I'm afraid the system is nowhere near as 'generous' as you think.

A.

As the mother of two under 10's I think the system is ok - I work part-time (school hours) and my hubby doesn't earn a great deal more than the minimum wage. Both of our kids go to out of school clubs in the holidays (which costs £28 a day) - yet we manage to pay our mortgage, run our car and feed/cloth our kids. I appreciate the CTC and family allowance and the bit that gets paid for the childcare - but I don't expect to be paid any more. Also, for the record, I only got 6 week SMP for my first child ( I was in quite a highly paid job at that point) and nothing for the second one as I wasn't working - I'd decided to stay at home to look after my children and that was when the tax credit system was nowhere near as generous. I'm not complaining, I'm quite proud that we managed as well as we did.
You must have the wrong information for your tax credits - the childcare payment is worked out separately based on how much you pay each week, and if you really want to get back into education you could look for bursaries or possibly an employment based route. Your tax credits would go up quite a bit and you would qualify for a grant as a parent. Alternatively you could study part-time at the OU while the kids are little (which is what I did!) - lower costs and you can get grants to pay for course fees etc. Hope that helps!!

Nikabella

the_other_mce wrote: »

You must have the wrong information for your tax credits - the childcare payment is worked out separately based on how much you pay each week, and if you really want to get back into education you could look for bursaries or possibly an employment based route. Your tax credits would go up quite a bit and you would qualify for a grant as a parent. Alternatively you could study part-time at the OU while the kids are little (which is what I did!) - lower costs and you can get grants to pay for course fees etc. Hope that helps!!

Personally I think the system is relatively generous, my point was that your statement that working parents get most of their childcare paid for is incorrect. Our tax credits are definetely correct as we only get CTC. WTC is based on how much childcare you pay each week & is given on top of CTC to help you pay for that childcare. We do not qualify for this though & what I was explaining was that you need to be earning quite a low salary to be entitled to this. Therefore unless you are on a low salary you do not get help with your childcare costs. The £10 per week CTC we receive is the same that everyone else receives, once your child is over 1.

I agree that you can get bursaries etc to help you go back to uni & I have just done a 3 year university course one day per week whilst working 2 days per week. We were not entitled to anymore CTC though regardless, not that I am complaining as my course was funded by my employer. However, this is not the field I want to work in & we were looking at me quiting work & studying another degree part-time. We would be entitled to help with childcare costs through the university but not through WTC as my OH on £25k earns too much.

A.x

Nikabella

Casper, so sorry I have got caught up in the slightly off topic discussion that seems to have developed here & not answere your original question!

When I first got pregnant with DD my OH was earning £20k & I was earning £15k. My OH got me all worked up & worried that we wouldn't be able to afford maternity leave, however, I sat down & decided we could definetely make it through the first 6 months, even if it would be a bit of a scrape. After 6 months I couldn't bare to go back to work so I had a further 6 months off unpaid, by this time we had realised just how far you can make your money go. You still accumulate AL whilst on ML so I had something like 35-40 days holiday owed (I had carried a coupule of days over into that year aswell) & at the end of the first 6 months ML I had 23 days worth paid to me. This was the equivalent of a months salary, we divided this by 6 & used that money each month to live. The first 6 months we had used the 6 weeks 90% SMP divided over the other months too, to top up the standard SMP.

Whilst I was on ML I went to University 1 day per week as I was part way through my course. So by the time I went back to work after almost 13 months off I was on £23k & my OH £27k, this meant I could go part-time , something prior to giving birth I never thought we would afford. If I worked full time we would be much better off, however, for me even working 3 days is too many IMO.

Whilst I was pregnant we saved £2k for our DD & put it in the bank so that any big things she needed could be bought without worrying, we still have quite a bit of this left - children don't have to cost the earth. Also, whilst I was on ML we managed to take my DD to Waterbabies, Music Class, Tumble Tots (& now Baby Ballet) which including petrol/parking etc costs us about £150 per month :eek: . Whilst I was pregnant we also bought our first house, when I look back I'm still amazed at how we managed to afford everything but you do, people always manage & they always will. My OH & I went without a lot in my DD's first year but it was absolutely worth it.

We are TTC again at the moment & I will take at least a year off again, for me even at a 1 a child is so young & it's heartbreaking to leave them. Hopefully, if we are blessed with a second I won't be returning to work & we will tighten our belts a little again.

Why not do an SOA & work out how best you can afford a child on your salaries/SMP, work out where you can cut back in advance, get your finances sorted & then if it happens you will also have the cushion of the Child Tax Credit (very, very generous in the 1st year!) & Child Benefit payments.

HTH.

A.x