Child Care is costing us the equivelent of a mortgage!

esmy

I think you have to take the long view on paying for childcare. Full time care is very expensive to start with, especially nursery care. I chose a childminder (and had 2 excellent ones over the years) because we needed the flexibility they could offer. For some years I worked to pay for the childcare and the car (a requirement of my job) with nothing left over. When free nursery started my bill reduced and again when both kids were in full time school. If I'd stayed at home I would have lost out on promotions, annual pay rises, and a massive chunk of my pension so overall it was well worth the expense.

neverdespairgirl

One thing that annoys me massively about childcare is the tax angle.

If I were to go out tomorrow and spend £20k on a Georgian desk for my office at work, I could quite happily and legally put it on my tax return as an entirely allowable business expense, and knock it off my taxable income.

But childcare costs come out of post-tax income.

that seems to be an entirely wrong way of doing it. I can do my work perfectly well without an antique desk, but without childcare, no chance.

We don't use a nursery - the hours aren't flexible enough for us.

inspirespirit

Why do people nowadays seem to think the Government should pay your childcare costs? My eldest is now 30 and there was no such thing as Child Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits at phenomonal amounts. We had Family Allowance. Paid to the woman every Monday. Think it was about 10 pounds and that was it.
I, like most people, worked around my husband's hours. I worked 5.30 till 10.30 in the evenings and weekends as a Receptionist in a Sports Centre to make ends meet. Then when the kids went to school I found a job to fit in with school hours, and when they got a bit older I ran my own business.

In this 24/7 society nowadays, it should be even easier to get unsocial working hours so that 2 people can fit work around each other.
Rather that than put my child in full time nursery.
The College I worked at when my kids were at school had a nursery. It was heartbreaking. Little 'uns could be there from 8am till 6pm. Stuck in one huge room with a small portioned off garden, 5 days a week.
If they had been home with mum they would have had trips to the shops, supermarkets, park, swimming, library, granny and grandads, friends with kids, the odd morning creche so mum could do aerobics, out to lunch with friends and other little 'uns, mother and baby mornings, picnics, paddling pool in the garden on hot sunny days.
Or a nursery with strangers, constant staff turnover, same old same old, day in day out 5 days a week for 5 years of their little lives.

red_devil

Dynamax wrote: »

Hi There

Our son is 8 months old and is just about to start Nursery full-time as Mum is returning to work.

I'm staggered at the cost of child-care and have just been informed by Child Tax Credits that we don't qualify for any help towards our childcare costs.

We both Work Full time, Mum earning £20k and Dad earning 24k

Our mortage is £850 per month and the Childcare costs are coming in at £620 per month! It's ridiculiously expensive.

Even more frustrating is the fact that others we know who choose not to work (or work a minimum of 16hrs each) get the majority of their child care costs paid and also recieving housing benefit! Spoungers!

For christs sake, if the government paid my childcare, I could purchase a 2 bedroom flat for these people and easily cover the mortgage with £620!

Angry and frustrated!!

I suppose short term it's our fault for striving to make a better future for our Son, hopefully long term things will improve, but for the next 4 years, until the free schooling starts, we really are going to have to tighten our spends.

whats a spounger:D

Just because you have a problem is it really necessary to attack people in general on benefits.

onlyroz

inspirespirit wrote: »

I, like most people, worked around my husband's hours.

I find it tremendously sad that you felt it necessary to do this. I don't see why the woman's career always has to come second to the man's - particularly when we are often told that girls do better at school than boys. Such a waste.

DevilsAdvocate1

Dynamax wrote: »

I personally believe that a childs development is improved greatly by attending nursery. All the social and development skills that they pick up from one another and all the activities contribute towards their future ability.





Obviously in no way does this take away from the parenting responsibleities of the 21st century Mum and Dad. Time is precious, Mornings, evening and weekends & Holidays.



And as for the comment about the government encouraging parents to stay at home....they do.....they fund all the dolites, scroungers, no-income families, by giving them childcare, giving them homes and subsidising their transport.

Parents who stay at home to look after their children do activities with them! Its not just in nurseries. Parents take their children to toddler groups, messy time, dancing, sing and sign, the park etc.

I read somewhere that research had found that an individual child in a nursery was only spoken to on average once every 8 minutes, whereas a child at home with a parent is spoken to pretty much constantly.

At a time where more and more children attend nurseries, more and more children start school unable to speak. This is put down to bad parenting, but I personally think it is due to all the time in nursery.

Those on benefits who do not work at all will not be getting childcare paid for - they are not working, so they do not need it.

mountainofdebt

Well I have to admit that my MIL was shocked to her core when I announced that Junior would be going to a nursery at the grand old age of 6 months - he was the only child in the family to have, shock horror a working mum.

As has previously been said it's all in the choosing of the nursery - and you can tell if small children are happy there .....in Junior's case, it was the running up to the staff in the morning, giving them a big hug and the 'do we really have to go home' look in the evenings.

Mind you I always joked that my employer should cut out the middle man (ie me) and pay half to the mortgage company and half to the nursery - and that was in the days before tax credits

inspirespirit

onlyroz wrote: »

I find it tremendously sad that you felt it necessary to do this. I don't see why the woman's career always has to come second to the man's - particularly when we are often told that girls do better at school than boys. Such a waste.

I didn't look at it like that. I got to spend all day with my babies and I LOVED every single minute of it and wouldn't change it for the world. There is no job on earth better than bringing up your children (no job more difficult, either). Plus I still worked, knowing that their dad was at home taking care of them and they were safe and happy.

hcb42

onlyroz wrote: »

I find it tremendously sad that you felt it necessary to do this. I don't see why the woman's career always has to come second to the man's - particularly when we are often told that girls do better at school than boys. Such a waste.

this was the norm, now we work much longer hours, 247 and of course women have risen up the career ladder, much more so than say 30 years ago.



I do believe though that those who want to give up work, which I completely understand and agree with, need to make some reasonable financial provision to do so and not expect the state to pick up the bill all the time. If the previous post was correct of about £20K then that seems small change to me for a few years off with the kids. I would pay three times that for the opportunity.

jenhug

I too worked around hubby's hours. I stacked shelves in a supermarket, and worked in a petrol station. I didn't feel cheated out of a career, the children were raised by both parents and we had no need for childcare costs. I suppose it worked for us as hubbys earning potential was much higher than mine, as I worked in retail and he was a lorry driver.

OP, have you checked websites like entitledto.com? the tax credits people often get things wrong.