Cost of childcare? HELP!

donnaessex

Hi Experts,

I am the mother of two beautiful children - my daughter is 2y9m and the my son is 1y6m. I work full time 9am-5pm locally (6 miles from home) and my boss is very understanding of the stresses of being a full time working mum and makes allowances for appointments etc.

I have been extremely fortunate that my sister (registered childminder) has cared for my children since I have returned to work both times but unfortunately this is about to end I fear.

She has been for an interview today for a job working 9.30am-2.30pm starting in September - she will find out if she has been successful on Wednesday. Her son starts school in September so she is hoping to ditch her weekend job and work school hours only, which is completely understandable.

I have paid her £250 per child per month to care for the kids and now I have to start enquiries about external childcare but I cant find anything on the net to start pricing up.

I live in Essex (obviously!) and just wondered if anyone can point me to a website or telephone number I could call for information on pricing in my area? Is there a set amount paid to childminders? I presume childminders and nursery are my options but I am so worried about finding the extra money for this. A woman I used to work with paid £800 a month for her child to go to nursery (a year ago) - I only earn £1400 after tax so it wouldnt even be worth me working surely if I have to pay £800 per child?

I have in the back of my mind that vouchers can be given to employees? Can anyone tell me what these are please and how I go about getting them or finding out if I am entitled to them and how much they are worth?

So sorry for all the questions. This has kind of come out of the blue today so I am all over the place.

Thanks in advance.

ETA - sorry my husband is in the picture too - how could I forget!!! He earns an OK wage (£21k) but we have a mortgage as well as debt which at the moment is under control but could go belly up if the childcare costs are too much.

JodyBPM

If your salary is the only family income, then its likely that you will get a contribution of up to 80% of childcare costs through CTC.

If you have a DH/DP who also works, you may be over the threshold. Employers can also do vouchers which allow you to effectivey pay for your childcare tax fee, but these cannot be used as well as a contribution from CTC so you have to work out what works best for you.

Childcare is HUGELY expensive! But remember, even if you don't earn much after paying for it to start with, you will still be retaining your pension and your position, and it won't be long til the free nursery places kick in at 3, reducing your childcare bill!

mummy_Jay

This is the site you need put in your area and look at the options. It's not particularly good for finding the right one but perfectly suited for a price analysis, when it comes to finding one use the phone number and they will put you through to your local family services unit to give you a current list of suitable childcare options that may have spaces.

http://childcarefinder.direct.gov.uk/childcarefinder/

Phone number 0800 2346346.

As for the cost don't forget to look at how your working tax credit will change when you pay higher rates.

donnaessex

Thanks for the post Jody. My daughter is starting her nursery places in September but again, I need someone to pick her up from there at 11.30?

mwa

Hello

OFSTED's website should give a list of registered child carers, nurseries etc. Where I live (Cornwall) a daycare place in a nursery is anywhere between 33 - 37 a day and childminders around 3.50 - 4 an hour. I myself have 2 pre-school aged children and can't afford to work full time so I can understand the panic, you have been getting an amazing deal so far!!

Vouchers are a tax break, you buy them from your salary before tax is deducted. Your employers have to be in the scheme though so you'll need to check.

Good luck!
MWA

donnaessex

mwa wrote: »

Hello

OFSTED's website should give a list of registered child carers, nurseries etc. Where I live (Cornwall) a daycare place in a nursery is anywhere between 33 - 37 a day and childminders around 3.50 - 4 an hour. I myself have 2 pre-school aged children and can't afford to work full time so I can understand the panic, you have been getting an amazing deal so far!!

Vouchers are a tax break, you buy them from your salary before tax is deducted. Your employers have to be in the scheme though so you'll need to check.

Good luck!
MWA

Thanks MWA. I know I've had an amazing deal. I am so lucky that my sister didnt "need" the money so took it as a token gesture. She didnt want to charge anything at all but I couldnt do that.

Now that her little boy is starting ft school though I understand why she wants to work around his hours.

JodyBPM

For your child that is starting nursery in september, i would also check out if the nursery offers any extended hours such as breakfast club/lunch club. This would allow you to use just a half day at nursery/childminder and is likely to be cheaper than getting a childminder to pick up at 11.30, as you may well have to pay for the full day in this case. Alternatively, the funding can be used at some private day nurseries to reduce your overall childcare bill.

I'm fortunately enough to have had family looking after my children, so I don't know all the details, but i'm sure that someone who is more knowledgeable will be able to explain how it works.

donnaessex

mummy_Jay wrote: »

This is the site you need put in your area and look at the options. It's not particularly good for finding the right one but perfectly suited for a price analysis, when it comes to finding one use the phone number and they will put you through to your local family services unit to give you a current list of suitable childcare options that may have spaces.

http://childcarefinder.direct.gov.uk/childcarefinder/

Phone number 0800 2346346.

As for the cost don't forget to look at how your working tax credit will change when you pay higher rates.

Thanks for that - none of the childminders local to me have put their costs on though grrrrrr. Good to have a list of people to call though.

theladsmum

You can take childcare vouchers from your employer up to £243 per month - you don't pay tax on the amount you take as a voucher, so taking the full amount saves £70 odd pounds a month. Both parents can take the vouchers, so it's worth asking your employers about the scheme.

I think you can use the free pre school sessions at private nurseries - don't really know as they came in just as my kids were starting school.

Over the years I have spent thousands on childcare, and really envy those of you with family close enough to do it for free, or a vastly reduced price! Sadly, you won't get anywhere near £250 per month for full time childcare.

Even when they are at school there is still before and after school care, then there are the long holidays......

flea72

most childminders charge around £3/hr, and usually give no discount for siblings

childminders also tend to charge a higher hourly fee for children who they only look after on a p/t basis, ie before/after school, and whilst attending preschool. so if you plan to send your DD to preschool, either expect to pay the childminder their usual rate whilst the child attends preschool (usually because you will need to rely on them as the person being in nearest contact, should an emergency occur), or pay a higher rate, for the hours the childminder actually cares for your DD after collecting them from preschool

as your sister is a registered childminder, does she not have contact with other ones in her area, who she could recommend to you? most childminders tend to mix, and discuss hourly rates, so id be surprised if she didnt know what the rates were like in your area

F

kindofagilr

Have you looked at going part time? I know it might sound crazy, but when I was working my wages out for going part time from full time, I was going to work 4 days a week, but I worked out in childcare for the extra day and costs to get to work it wasnt worth it so I am going to do 3 days a week, we earn "too" much for tax credits (apart from the £21 a week that everyone with under 60k of earnings gets for the first year)