Childcare-whats your setup?

Spendless

Mine are now 13 and 10, so not a like for like comparison but I can give you my experiences.

When I had eldest, my employer did not employ anything other than full-time workers and the right to request flexible working did not exist. Without the help towards childcare costs that are available now, my son would have had to have gone into f-time childcare and it wouldn't have fetched any more income into the house.

I didn't return, instead a few months later i found a part-time evening/weekend job that could be orked around my husband's hours.

I packed that in due to illness in my next pregnancy, had a few years at home, then went to college. I then did voluntary work for a while - by this time both kids were at f-time school before finding paid employment. For a while I had fantastic hours with a 3pm finish but then company closed down. I now cover hols and absences for a firm via an agency, so when I do work the hours are 9-5. There is no childcare here for a 12+ child to cover the hours I work. I became aware of this some years ago and took steps to ensure son would be ok being left from this age. Am currently working on covering same issue with his younger sister.

My suggestions are that you put away some money now, whilst now on reduced maternity pay and paying baby related costs so you have a childcare fund to dip in to. Find out how flexible your employers are about working part-time etc. Research your childcare options and prices and found out if you will receive any help towards those costs.

Bufger

I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I work full time on a good wage (i'm Dad) and Mum has recently gone back to work part time.

The toughest time financially for us was during maternity leave with statuary maternity pay.

Our Childcare now consists of:
Monday with my mum for the full day which gives OH a break and she likes to catch up on the housework/washing.
Tuesday OH takes them out.
Wednesday morning OH has them at home. She goes to work at 12 and grandparents have them for the afternoon.
Thursday Childminder
Friday Childminder (2 kids for 2 days is £110 per week with our childminder)

Then the weekends its all of us

So £440 per month for us. You'll be paying that x2 for a nursery. With one child you can generally afford nursery, when it gets to 2 its so expensive it works out financially more viable (for most people) to have one of the parents staying at home.

Roll on school age and a Monthly save of £440!!! (until we have to pay for uniforms, trips etc etc)

barba

Why do people have children then bung them off to a childminder / nursery full time?

Bangton

£650 a month for me for a 4 day nursery place..I live in Yorkshire.

I'll be bunging my child off to nursery because to earn a living I believe in working.......this topic has been done many times before Barba

GwylimT

At the minute I have a three year old and a baby, I worked part time when she was a baby as did my wife, so we didn't need to use childcare apart from the odd occasion where we both had to work on the same day, but that was pretty rare.

Now as our jobs have changed she goes to nursery part time, however her free 15 hours cover a considerable amount of this so we only pay £200 a month in nursery fee's, in September she was due to be in nursery full time until she starts school in January but now my wifes work contract is up so now we are going to just continue sending her for the 15 hours so she can continue to be in a schooling environment so she is ready in January.

Our little one is in hospital however when he comes out my wife will look after him during the day until she finds another job and then we will use a childminder/nursery, it depends on where we think is best for him when the time comes.

GwylimT

barba wrote: »

Why do people have children then bung them off to a childminder / nursery full time?

Some people like to set a good example to their children and show them a good work ethic instead of sitting on their !!!!!! on benefits, do you also object to sending children to school?

avantra

Our arrangement for our 2.5 old is without any help from relatives as they all live two hours away and not really interested:(

My partner get a good wage and we do not think being in full time childcare at this age is good for any of us. I was forced out of my job as my role was allegedly not doable part time.

We are getting by on 41k plus child benefits plus employers vouchers from my partner's employer (£243/month), we also managed to get free 15 hours/week (only paid at term times) for two years old due to our daughter's circumstances.

In total we spend around £2.5k/year on childcare (two days a week nursery). The rest of the time it's me and my girl.

I am looking for some weekend night work at the mom.

clairec79

DH is a stay at home dad, we used to split it and hand over the kids outside one of our works (he'd work mornings from 5am and I'd work afternoons), then he lost his job so I went back to work fulltime and he's at home with the kids.

It actually is easier having him at home (he will do the vast majority of the housework etc) but I know once the kids are all in school full time he'll be looking at wanting to do something - he does do occasional volunteer work so it may just be upping that if he can't find paid work - but ideally around school hours)

dizziblonde

Makes no economic sense for me to work when you compare the cost of childcare versus my earnings (supply teaching was a dying way of making a living before the kids came along). I don't, however, "sit on my backside on benefits" - the only money we get from the state is in the form of child benefit... we did the sums, cut our costs and can just about scrape by on my husband's salary alone - especially when I put the odd bit of evening tutoring or test marking that I can do from home into the equation.

Since we get bog-all from the taxpayer - no one's got the right to winge about it!

mincepiemonster

I'm a stay-at-home mum, but if I'm honest it had little to do with the cost of childcare. I was a registered nurse before having DD, so could've worked my hours around my DH, and my mum lives locally and is a housewife in her early 50s so would have been able to help out with childcare. I didn't want to miss out on family time at the weekend, and I love being at home with DD in the week. It's a lifestyle choice but we're both 100% on board with it and we cut our cloth accordingly (Daily Mail caravan hols, one 10 year old car etc). Our household income is just enough (£26,000) to mean we get no tax credits but child benefit does admittedly come in handy. Money is all in a joint account and I do 90% of the housework so we can have that precious time at the weekend. I take DD out nearly every day and don't feel at all isolated - now she is nearly 2 she is a lovely little friend in her own right, and I've met lots of families through the groups we attend.

I know we're really lucky to be in this position: my friends who have "had" to return to work do however have a better standard of living (bigger houses, nicer cars, better holidays) so must have something left over after childcare.