Childcare is bloody expensive!

Kim_kim

Compressed hours?
One of you works mon - thur, the other tue to fri.
Ideally one starts very early & the other works very late - no breakfast club needed.

Blueday

I feel for you OP as the next few years will be tough. You would previously have been able to claim Tax Credits with those childcare costs even with a joint income of £47K but I'm not sure you can now under UC, unless you rent your home? It may be worth asking on the benefits board.

If you want to be thoroughly depressed, play with the numbers on www.entitledto.co.uk to see how much better off you would be by reducing your joint working hours (or even not working!)

Personally I would be asking my employer about a career break for the next year or two.

susancs

OP, I know childcare is expensive for the first couple of years at the moment, but it not quite as expensive as you have worked out as you will get 20% tax fee childcare which on the figures you have given would be £2927. You will also have child benefit of £1,800. Add to that the savings you will make on food costs with your eldest having breakfast, free school lunches, snacks at school and in the childcare. Your baby will also have meals in childcare. You will save on consumables you use at home such as heating, electricity, water (if on a meter) etc as not used during when you are at work.

pjcox2005

OP - I know children prefer to be with friends but if you go with a childminder could they be responsible for having your eldest pre and post school cutting down costs further, or alternatively can you and other half flex your starting hours so one does drop off, one does pick up.


Use of holidays in summer will also cut down on summer clubs so at least you know that with changes and childcare vouchers, the figure you quoted will come down.

Beans27

Hi PeppaCoin
It is a dilemma isn't it - I have an 18 month old, came back to work in January after 9 month mat leave. We decided it was best for our family if my partner became a stay at home dad for a while - I am the higher earner (£37k) and he hated his £19k job that he took whilst I was on maternity leave. When we added up childcare and dog walks (yes, she is like another child!), it didn't make much sense.
We are fortunate in that he is very hands on and loves being the primary carer for our boy. Decided that we would just accept having very limited funds for a while, and it works for us. Now at the point though where I'd like our boy to go to nursery for the socialisation angle - so he needs to find some part time work to enable this, would need another thread for that!
Hope you find a solution that works for your family.

System

kelpie35 wrote: »

I am always amused when people come on here complaining about how much child care costs.

You decided to have another child.

Did you not think to work out, before you decided to have another child, how you were going to manage to pay for child care.

You either need to pay up and get on with it or lower your living expenses till your children can fend for themselves.

Did you not have financial discussions with your husband before you even became pregnant?

Yep totally agree. You decided to have children, so be there for your children. You can't have your cake AND eat it. You either work and pay the childcare if you want to work THAT BADLY, or you stay at home and be the mum you wanted to be. Sounds like the costs are about the same.

System

Happier_Me wrote: »

Childcare costs can cripple you financially for those first few years, but in the scheme of things it is relatively short term.

The system is like this to encourage mums to stay at home and do the thing they wanted in the first place.

Comms69

PeppaCoin wrote: »

I'm currently on maternity leave and pondering on the sums for when I return to work. I earn £28k and husband £19k. I need to return to work full time as I can't afford a cut in salary and it wouldn't be possible with the work I do. We have 2 children - a 5 year old in school and a newborn.

Newborn childcare - using a childminder at £45 per day x 5 days a week, for 47 weeks a year. £10,575 per year or £881 per month

Son - before school club for 5 mornings a week at £6.50 per session and after school club at £11.50 per session for 4 afternoons. Total per week is £78.50. This will be for 39 weeks of school term, ie £3062 per year. He will also have to attend summer club for another 8 weeks of the year 5 days a week at £25 per day (£1000). Total £4062 per year or £338.50 per month

So we're looking at spending £1220 a month on childcare alone. The thought is making me so nervous.We don't have family or friends who can help with childcare and even with the help of childcare vouchers or taxfree childcare I can't quite get my head around being able to afford it. Our salaries are £47k in total so I know plenty of couples earn less, but I have no idea how they cope.

Looking at it another way, my day rate is £107. I probably take home £72 per day net, yet it costs £63 per day during term time and £70 per day in the summer to put the children in childcare. How depressing to be working for a few pounds per day.

Am I missing something really obvious, or is this just the case until the 30 hours kicks in for us in 2020?

Surely your husband would be best placed to take a career break as his salary is basically meaningless once you do the calculations.


I do think your title of the post is totally wrong.


Child care is cheap, you just don't earn enough.


£45 per day to look after your child (most precious possession) vs £107 a day for whatever job role you do.

bugslet

Comms69 wrote: »

Surely your husband would be best placed to take a career break as his salary is basically meaningless once you do the calculations.
.

That does seem to be the obvious solution and on top of that, it should be easier to take care of the house and cook from scratch - you may find that there are some savings there.

skint_chick

So your husband makes about £1350 after tax per month and you would be spending £1,220 a month on childcare. It would make more sense for him to start looking for a part-time job for evenings/weekends when you're home. If he leaves his job completely once maternity/paternity leave is done then you would be £130 a month worse off - but with additional child benefit and tax credits you might find that isn't even the case. He could look at doing evening work in a supermarket, or a Saturday job. It doesn't make any sense for him to keep working unless in the meantime he gets a better job. He can then challenge himself to cut the household bills and find lots of free stuff to do with the kids during the week.