Baby due in April - Worried about childcare costs when returning to work

charlieismydarling

You seem not to have considered that if she were a single parent then you would have much less income. A lone parent on 31k wouldn't be entitled either.

Of course they don't factor in food costs, rent and fuel. Why would they? Once you have children, your living standard drops. The early years are the hardest when paying for childcare.

This lone parent argument really wears thin... It is unbelievably tough as a lone parent, many lone parents live in poverty, working or not.
Where do you live that you pay over 9k a year in rent? Is it in the lowest 30 centile of rent in your area. That is what your mythical LP would get housing benefit for.

cameronb

Wow some of the posts on here are really harsh, this guy's looking for help not a lecture, be nice people, he's already said he doesn't want to do the benefits thing and is looking for help in what is a desperate situation. I too am in a similar situation as are countless other families across the country due to the massive squeeze on the middle. I don't know if this would be an appropriate suggestion for you but rents are nearly always more expensive than a mortgage, depending on where you live in the country it might be worth looking into the help to buy scheme and reducing this cost. You have approx 1900pcm in income after your rent at the moment which isn't a lot but isn't too bad either, you could look at switching your supermarket to a cheaper one if you haven't already. I love Aldi! You could also look out for vouchers and coupons. Cancel magazine subscriptions if you have them and get your info fixes online. Use comparison sites to switch energy, service and insurance providers. If you have a car on finance speak to your finance company and get a cheaper one. Turn your thermostat down even 1 degree will make a difference to your bill and new babies don't like it too hot anyway! there's loads of stuff you can do also setting up DDs and standing orders to pay your bills to make sure they are all paid on time and you don't get penalty notices etc can save loads. Look into your accounts new and old to see if you can claim back any old charges or ppi etc, this can be worth thousands!
you'll be OK, you learn to live more frugally whether you want to or not with kids. good luck!

Almost-free

Have you considered a child minder rather than a nursery? I used a child minder for all three of my children at one time or another, and it was roughly half the cost of nursery.

I liked the fact that she only ever had a maximum of three children allowed ( although my childminder only ever had two at a time), she was a continuous care taker they bonded well to, she took them to local toddler groups and nursery when they reached that age and also picked up from school for me when they got older.

I made a real friend out of mine and the kids all think of her as a member of our family. As I was working as a Health Visitor at the time my kids were small, and part of my job was to go into nurseries , I preferred the more homely care of a child minder, and the continuity of care, compared to constant change of staff at a nursery . She was also more amenable to having them when they were a little off colour or had the sniffles, whereas nurseries often refuse to have them because they are rightly concerned about spreading bugs.

paulineb_2

Ben86123 wrote: »

Hi all,

New to the forum and just after some advice.

We're due a baby in April and we're just forward thinking about child care costs when my partner returns to work.
I earn £25,000 (before tax) and my partner earns £16,000 (before tax)

Sounds like quite a high wage, but when rent alone is £9,300 pa it soon goes!

We've checked out the entitled to site and it says we're not entitled to no help as my earnings are to high - They don't factor in food costs, car running costs and everything else. It seem's as though we would be better off her saying she is a single parent, that way receiving help with child care costs (£900 a month for 5 days a week) We really don't want to go down this route as we have never claimed benefits in our lives, but we would be fighting a losing battle. Our expenditures would far out weigh our joint income. We don't want to claim housing benefit etc just need some help with child care costs. Unfortunately we don't have family members who are able to mind the little one for us.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

If you do decide to say shes a single parent to get extra money and get caught, you risk prosecution.

Surely you must have sat down and worked out how this would affect you long before now?

You earn £41 000 a year between you, Im aware childcare costs are high, but this shouldnt be impossible on your earnings, Id also second a childminder.

Mojisola

paulineb wrote: »

You earn £41 000 a year between you, Im aware childcare costs are high, but this shouldnt be impossible on your earnings, Id also second a childminder.

And putting a SOA on the Debt Free board. The people there will be able to show you how to trim your spending - in many instances, keeping the same services but just paying less for them.

hardworking_mummy

They earn £41,000 between them. What they actually take home is £33,000 max. Minus the cost of all the usual expenses of actually getting to work - they are not exactly rolling in it. Not that I agree with anyone looking to benefits to fill the void - but it's not unusual for people to expect the arrival of a child to herald a benefits bonanza.
It looks like moving somewhere far cheaper is in order. Perhaps even put your name down for social housing - by some miracle you may get something by the time the little one is leaving for Uni.

duchy

I'm not sure if you're considering separating and living apart .....as well as rent on a second property -she'd also be entitled to claim 20% of your income.....or if you are considering benefit fraud.

I did chuckle a bit at you patting yourself on the back for your "foresight" at "planning ahead" when you gave no consideration about child care either before the birth or even conception. Most people have all this sorted by now.

As you're not well paid it may be worth considering your wife staying home with the baby so no childcare, more time to cook economically, shop cheaper etc, possibly no second car etc and you'd be able to claim tax credits legally as well as housing benefit. Another option to explore-with the advantage of legality to it ! Don't really understand why you'd not want to claim housing benefit yet another benefit (claimed illegally) like tax credits is OK?

username200

quick question- do childcare costs get counted towards the £500week cap?

Icequeen99

username200 wrote: »

quick question- do childcare costs get counted towards the £500week cap?

No, because it is part of WTC and if you are getting WTC you are exempt from the cap.

IQ

zagfles

username200 wrote: »

quick question- do childcare costs get counted towards the £500week cap?

There is no cap if they are working enough hours for WTC. If they aren't they won't get the childcare element of WTC.