Childcare costs forcing us into debt.

WeBeBroke

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

The plan is for at least minimum wage for each hour a SE person works, for income based welfare claim purposes.

Do you have a personal issue with childminders? I have a childminder to look after my children - it's £45 per child full day and £22.50 school pick up/drop off. I work part-time (3 days) so it works out around £202 pw. I pay 4 weeks holidays and then as I don't use her during school holidays she gets half-price for the rest of the weeks she's off.
I'm sorry to disagree with you but I think that's fair - especially seeing as IT contractors I work with can charge between £300 - 500 per day and I wouldn't say they're doing as important a job as looking after a child.
They're self-employed (as I am albeit through a ltd company) so there are a number of tax reliefs out there that apply to all self-employed people, not just child-minders. And for companies too - which nurseries come under.
It pays for all the things PAYE employees can often get but which you have to pay for yourself when you're self-employed - sick pay, health insurance, pensions etc.
It's a struggle finding decent childcare so I was just so grateful I got such a lovely minder. It's tough for many finding the money for childcare but every generation had its problems - this just happens to be ours.

melly1980

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

The plan is for at least minimum wage for each hour a SE person works, for income based welfare claim purposes.

so they are going to be assumed to have earned more than they actually have, which would be unfair.

Hammyman

WeBeBroke wrote: »

Do you have a personal issue with childminders?

She has personal issues with anyone who uses the rules the HMRC themselves create to avoid paying tax.

However I bet she's done something for someone, got paid a few quid and not said anything or bought something to sell on Ebay for a profit.

Fiver29

hanes wrote: »

i understand your point, but the childcare place we have we fought very hard for, its the best available and our 10 month is coming on leaps and bounds, while money cant buy this sort of benefits i cant help but feel we are being squeezed every which way. but changing childcare is not an option for us.

I find it hard to believe you work as hard as you can for a better life and the goverment would rather see you on JSA. but i guess what they reap in 20% VAT and 40% tax it would not make a dent.

there is the benefit of once she is older it will pay off. but i didnt believe there were many in the same posistion as us.

after reading your post however i see it is the case.

just at the moment we cant see the light at the end.
very glad we dont have too much debt to deal with.

So it's not that childcare is forcing you into debt, it's that you don't want to use anything but 'the best'. What makes this childcare so special?

kingfisherblue

mildred1978 wrote: »

Erm, on £14k and £18k you don't pay anything like 40% tax. With 2 tax allowances you're paying £3,400 per year in income tax as a household.

That's £283 per month - you're getting £356 back from the Government towards childcare. On top of that you have child benefit, WTC and free healthcare. Doesn't seem too bad a deal to me.

No WTC - their income is too high. The cut off point for WTC is around £17-18k for the household.

Having said that, I agree with the rest of your post.

When my children were younger, there was very little if any help with childcare costs. I'm not sure when the government started to pay a proportion of childcare costs, but if there was any help available when my children were little, I wasn't aware of it. I would struggle to find someone to look after my son anyway, as he is severely disabled and childcare for disabled children is very difficult to find.

Our local Surestart nursery charges £29 a day for childcare, and a local community nursery charges £20 a day. This is in the North West of England. Both give out leaflets about CTC to parents who are interested.

sunnyone

kingfisherblue wrote: »

No WTC - their income is too high. The cut off point for WTC is around £17-18k for the household.

Having said that, I agree with the rest of your post.

When my children were younger, there was very little if any help with childcare costs. I'm not sure when the government started to pay a proportion of childcare costs, but if there was any help available when my children were little, I wasn't aware of it. I would struggle to find someone to look after my son anyway, as he is severely disabled and childcare for disabled children is very difficult to find.

Our local Surestart nursery charges £29 a day for childcare, and a local community nursery charges £20 a day. This is in the North West of England. Both give out leaflets about CTC to parents who are interested.

Your youngest is still quite young and I have read one or two threads on here that said that you as a carer you could have been entitled to childcare for you younger (than you disabled son ) child but its a bit late now for you.

MissMoneypenny

Hammyman wrote: »

She has personal issues with anyone who uses the rules the HMRC themselves create to avoid paying tax.

:rotfl:I get lots of angry emails from landlords who don't have permission ot rent out their properties from their lenders (are avoiding their taxes on this too) as they don't like me warning renters to check, to ensure their own safety. Is there something you have to hide?

Hammyman wrote: »

However I bet she's done something for someone, got paid a few quid and not said anything or bought something to sell on Ebay for a profit.

You would lose your bet. I've never used ebay to sell my things. I give stuff I don't want anymore to the charity shop of our local hospice. Do you buy things to sell on ebay and don't declare it to HMRC or welfare? I thought HMRC were checking ebay accounts now?

Hammyman

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Do you buy things to sell on ebay and don't declare it to HMRC or welfare? I thought HMRC were checking ebay accounts now?

Considering it is pretty much well known I am registered on Ebay as a business seller on these forums and registered with HMRC as such, then HMRC are free to check my Ebay account as much as they like.

Oh, and I have a commercial mortgage on the property I rent out. And, pray tell, how does someone letting out a house without the permission of their mortgage company affect the safety of a tenant? Surely it is the condition of the house, the electrics and the gas heating that does that?

kingfisherblue

sunnyone wrote: »

Your youngest is still quite young and I have read one or two threads on here that said that you as a carer you could have been entitled to childcare for you younger (than you disabled son ) child but its a bit late now for you.

Childcare for my youngest was not something that I was ever offered, and until I joined MSE I didn't know it was available for people in my circumstances. I've learned a lot from these boards .

My youngest is now 11, and I have been told that there is finally a place with Young Carers for him, which I hope will benefit him. Most places that we go still require me to stay because of my other son's needs, so it will be good for my youngest to have somewhere for himself, without his younger brother or me being there. It also fits in well with other things that we do after school - that's the other problem, as I am a single parent and can't be in two places at once

Keith

Thank god my wife is a nanny, she takes a pay reduction of £40 a week to take our little girl to work.