Childcare costs and how it works

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Hi folks,

Following on from my other thread (wife and I are trying for a baby)... we both currently work full time and I wanted to understand the logistics of that after the maternity leave....

Can anyone tell me - if my wife returns to full time work after maternity leave, I assume (in the absence of our parents looking after child - they live too far away) we would have to take them to nursery for a full day Monday to Friday?

Can anyone tell me how much this is likely to cost?

Are there any other things that I need to think of - such as opening hours of nursery not fitting with work hours (9-5)....

Thanks everyone.

findingmyownway

They are usually open 8am-6pm so you need to think about logistics of dropping off / collecting. They won't take the baby if its ill.

Costs in the region of £60/day round here, probably depends on your area.

Charlies_Mummy

findingmyownway has summed up what I was going to say.

Nurseries here cost less than £60, my sister's two children go to nursery one day a week and I think it's £28 per day per child, including meals and snacks.

go_cat

They will not open weekends

Price varies depending where you live

Strongly suggest visiitng several nurseries and see which one yu get the right feeling about

WestonDave

The other thing to bear in mind is that you will have to pay even if your child is ill at home with you taking a day off to look after him/her and probably when you are away on holiday - some places allow a certain amount of supposedly free holiday but I suspect on comparing prices they've just spread the costs of those weeks into the remaining ones! Our was slightly wierd in that it was also open (and charged for) bank holidays - this was in part because it catered for a number of kids whose parents worked in the local hospital so weren't necessarily off on bank holidays. This was a bit of a double edged sword in that it cost for days we didn't need but then if we needed to get something done - e.g. a DIY project we could without having to avoid the kids joining in with the paint etc!

Check whether either (or both) of your employers do childcare vouchers - you have them paid for by work but the cost deducted from your salary, in effect making them tax free. The higher rate provision changes soon but even on basic rate its still a saving. You can normally get up to £243 each per month so if both of you can do it then you can cover nearly £500 of fees per month between you.

GobbledyGook

Another option is to look into having a childminder look after your child rather than a nursery. Some parents prefer that and it is often cheaper than a nursery. I've also found that childminders can be more flexible than a nursery (for example my friends CM takes her son at different times because she works shifts and sometimes needs him cared for from 7am or until 7pm depending on her start time).

rachbc

ll nurseries are slighlty different in how and what they charge for...I paid £28 per day inc meals but had to provide nappies, others I looked at provided nappies etc, another charged for meals! I had to pay for holidays but not bank hols/ christmas closing etc

Most open 8-6 but in some araas they are 7.30-6.30.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Thanks everyone for the really useful feedback... so at £28 a day, 5 days per week thats looking at about £600 a month...

When i deduct travel costs its not far off what my wife earns.... might have to re-consider her going back to work.....

go_cat

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the really useful feedback... so at £28 a day, 5 days per week thats looking at about £600 a month...

When i deduct travel costs its not far off what my wife earns.... might have to re-consider her going back to work.....

Don't look at it as using all of your wifes salary see it as a joint cost to both of you.

She may not want you to rethink her return to work she may want to go back

starsandmoon

When my DD was in nursery it cost more than the mortgage. Good few years ago now so not sure of prices. My nursery was close to where we lived so drop off was easy. Sometimes it is easier to have the nursery close to where you work so your not stressed if stuck in traffic/late. My employer had the voucher scheme (Busy Bees I think it was called). This saved a lot of money.

**confuzzled**

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the really useful feedback... so at £28 a day, 5 days per week thats looking at about £600 a month...

When i deduct travel costs its not far off what my wife earns.... might have to re-consider her going back to work.....

I think £28 per day is best case scenario..we have a childminder for our DD and that costs us £29.45 per day(8:30am - 6pm) in our area nurseries were more expensive. We just about make money with me working 4 days a week and DD in childcare for 2 of those but tbh even if we just broke even I'd still return to work for my sanity:o Might be worth bearing in mind when you & your OH are discussing things...what you think may happen with childcare now may be the complete opposite when a baby arrives...it was for me;):)