Student Childcare

Gem_

As a radical solution - could they not remortgage to such an extent as to push the husbands wage assesment below the threshold? .....


One quick thought - has she put the 2 year old in childcare near the university? If she is doing 3 hours travelling then this is 3 hours less childcare she has to pay for if she is dropping her/him off in the university vacinity.

Also has she looked into the uni childcare scheme? They are generally run by very over qualified staff - due to them being used as teaching practise for students and being on campus will make it very convenient.



Gem

pink_phantom

Thankyou for the suggestion but they are renting. The 3 year old is in chilcare near their home so that the father can pick him up. That way she gets a little time to study which is vital because it is hard doing a degree and looking after a family.

She has looked into the uni childcare and she could apply for help with the student hardship fund but that is not guaranteed and the ammount they award cannot be relied upon.

She is thinking of defering for a year as a last resort because then the3 year old will be in school.

Spendless

pink_phantom wrote:

There are 2. One is 3 and would need full time childcare and the other is 9 so would be in an after school club. Could you tell me where I can get more info on this please?x

The 3 year old would get upto 12.5 hours paid for x amount of weeks a year. You can take it until child goes to full-time school. I get it for my 3 year old. She goes 3 full days a week. You could only take 2.5 hours per session so 5 in a day AM and PM but daughters nursery manager says they have or about to change this . It doesn't apply to me so I have no further details on this bit. You can take it in a nursery or with an accredited childminder. The local nurseries should be able to give all details I would suggest either ringing one or contacting early years.

The only other suggestion I have is for her husband to look into childcare vouchers, they work by you salary sacrificing upto £55 a week in return for same amount of vouchers. The money sacrificed is tax and NI free. this needs looking into though as on £18K they will get more than the family element of tax credits and sacrificing money for childcare vouchers may have an impact. There is a long thread on relationships board about the childcare vouchers. The vouchers should be able to be used at after-school club.

I sympathise with the situation. I went to college for 16 hours a week and we didn't qualify for help via tax credit system as I don't work. we are also stuck with having to add £7K onto hubbys income due to his benefits in kind (company car, petrol). I used a combination of the funding at 3 with the childcare vouchers to make it affordable.