Can i provide child care for my friends baby without pay?

nat22

I want to volunteer to mind my friends baby when she goes back to work, i dont want any payment for this, is it possible to do this without receiving any kind of payment and also would i need to be a registered childminder?

whitewing

Not being funny, but why would you want to do it without pay? (Unless you mean for an hour a week). It is a big responsibility to look after someone else's child.

nat22

I would prob do 1 or 2 days a week, my friend doesnt have much money and i want to help her as much as possible.

looby75

if you aren't being paid then you don't need to register as a childminder or inform anyone that you are helping your friend out. My best mate looks after another friends grandson for no payment, social services know about it (friend has special guardianship of her grandson) and they are perfectly happy about the situation as no money is changing hands.

What a lovely friend you are btw

whitewing

You are very nice, but how are you going to feel when she comes in to show your all her new goodies that she has been buying? You need to be careful that you aren't taken for granted. I wouldn't personally do it. I don't know about any impact on your benefits, if you claim any?? I assume you're not thinking of cash in hand?

nat22

looby75 wrote: »

if you aren't being paid then you don't need to register as a childminder or inform anyone that you are helping your friend out. My best mate looks after another friends grandson for no payment, social services know about it (friend has special guardianship of her grandson) and they are perfectly happy about the situation as no money is changing hands.

What a lovely friend you are btw

Thanks! So it's not wrong in the eyes of the tax man? Don't want either of us getting in trouble for tax evasion! I've heard its ok for family members to do it voluntarily but wasnt sure about friends.

nat22

whitewing wrote: »

You are very nice, but how are you going to feel when she comes in to show your all her new goodies that she has been buying? You need to be careful that you aren't taken for granted. I wouldn't personally do it. I don't know about any impact on your benefits, if you claim any?? I assume you're not thinking of cash in hand?

My friend needs to return to work as she cant afford to stay at home, she wont be going out buying 'goodies'! I wont be taking payment of any kind and i dont recieve any benefits as i have my own business.

looby75

nat22 wrote: »

Thanks! So it's not wrong in the eyes of the tax man? Don't want either of us getting in trouble for tax evasion! I've heard its ok for family members to do it voluntarily but wasnt sure about friends.

as long as you aren't getting any kind of payment then it's fine. You can't evade tax if you aren't getting paid Obviously your friend won't be able to claim childcare costs via tax credits (because she doesn't have any) but she still will be able to claim working tax credits if she is working more than 16 hours a week.

munchings-n-crunchings

Hello Nat22,

I would just suggest you think very carefully about all the implications of looking after someone else's child.

You are friends at the moment, but what if something happened while you were looking after the child?
Times are different now, and you have to be so careful. Your friendship would be rapidly out of the window.
You will have the same duty of care, and responsibilities as a person employed to do this type of job. You will have no insurance protection, unlike a registered childminder.

We all have children to tea, parties and sleepovers, but it is a huge responsibility.
Accidents do happen, but things could end up being serious.

I always think twice now, you have to.

Good luck with what you decide

Munchie

SuziQ

What Munchie says makes a lot of sense. My mum and sister fell out bitterly over my mum taking care of my sisters oldest child and I also have a good friend who has recently lost a good friend the same way.When I was Health Visiting I also saw these 'friendly' arrangements go regularly wrong! You have to be absolutely clear about what you both expect from this as we all raise children differently. I wasn't happy that my very first (and very short lived ) childminder was giving my 8 month old crisps and chocolate and letting her 12 year old push her out in the pram unaccompanied (plus loads of other things I won't go into!) and as it was obvious we had totally different standards and beliefs (she talked a great talk at interview but was walking a totally different path in reality) I terminated immediately and found someone I felt I could trust. It's more difficult with family and friends though as often mums don't want to lay the law down but get increasingly dissatisfied.

The insurance implications need looking ito as your house insurance could be invalidated. Plus as already mentioned-God forbid anything were to go wrong........

Also,what happens if baby is unwell one day? Do you still look after? How about if baby needs the doctor or hospital,how able would your friend be to come home or would you have to assume responsibility? What happens if you don't feel like it one day or you have a sudden emergency in your own family? What if you have had ebough and want to stop doing it?

Your friend might be much better off to look for a childminder that she can claim govt supprt for imho,no offence to you as I think you are wonderful to even consider it. I have always helped out for friends on an ad hoc basis but would never consider doing it long term in the way you are.

looby75

natt, how long have you been friends with this mum, a lot of what suzi and munchie say is very worth keeping in mind.

The reason my friends have such a good arrangement is because they have known each other for about 20 years and are more like sisters than friends now. They also live just a few houses away from each other so it's very easy for dropping off/picking up etc. It's an ideal solution for them but it might not work for everyone.