Money Moral Dilemma: Should we keep paying childcare fees during the coronavirus outbreak?

childminder63

I have been a registered childminder for a long time and as ever, communication has been key. After discussing this issue with all my clients individually, this is the outcome. Several of my clients have said they are getting paid so they are continuing to pay me full fee, to support me, even though I can’t have their children.  Others are now on reduced income and have agreed to a half fee retainer. Three families have key workers one of whom has opted to continue taking their children to nursery. Due to this I felt it best to decline having them. I felt it best to eliminate the risk of cross contamination. For this family I have told them not to pay me as they will need to pay nursery. I will however, gladly have them back , when this is over. I will still get paid by the council for my funded children so I put together themed activity packs with books, to keep them going and learning. I have told all my clients to keep in touch and we will review the arrangements regularly. We all need to do what we can to help each other. I don’t know if I will get any help from the government. I will discuss this with my parents too. If I feel we can manage, I won’t claim anything. I would rather the money went on something or someone else who needs it. My tax payment for July has been deferred to January but it will still have to be paid as will all my other bills. This is not a holiday and as my parents are paying me, I am working on improvements to my setting, inside and out. Hopefully my parents will be happy with this. 

DebiD

I am an Ofsted registered childminder, providing childcare services to families.  We are classed as Key Workers and have been asked to support Key Worker families during this crisis.   I am still open to care for just a very few, Critical Key Worker Families.  We are putting ourselves, including our families, in danger of the virus by allowing other people's children to come into our homes, which contradicts everything the Government advised, with regards to isolation.  
With regards to the payment of childcare.  7+ days ago childminder forums were adamant that parents should be paying a high percentage if not all of their fees.  As time has gone by we are now in realisation that this is simply not going to be possible for all.  Some of my families are self-employed and those that are employed will hopefully receive 80% of their salary.  At the moment I still believe it is too early to make a decision about payment as there is still much to be decided.
I think it is all about "fairness, open communication and negotiation".  Childminder's have never in my opinion, received the credit they are due to support the working economy, particularly by the Government with their measly funding allowance. We are now witnessing that without this form of childcare provision, people's lives could be endangered through lack of key workers being available to work.  
BE FAIR AND REASONABLE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY BE KIND. 

angelakushnerlet_by

I am a childminder I am open for keyworker children . The parents who are not KW and claim childcare credits through universal credit are paying me what they get from U/C but not what they have to top it up from there own wage .It does say childcare credits so should be paid to the childcare its classes as fraud if they dont pass it on .Parents who cannot get tax credit or funding and who are not K/W we have said no payment K/W are to pay only for when they attend i think this is fair .We provide nappies and 3 meals per day for £4 per hour I dont think we over charge we dont pay business rates  we dont earn enough our insurance will not help we still have to keep up payment to insurance my gas and electric Bill's are high and so is my food bill.We are self employed most childminders it's there only income . I have gone down to 1 child twice a week bare in mind they come to my home and could bring this virus to me so please be understanding 

REJP

Not all nurseries are rip off merchants.
I would consider that if I could afford to pay towards staff costs if they don't get the Govt furlough pay, it would be an investment to ensure there are staff when my nursery reopens for me to pay.
The answer to your dilemma is in your question.  You say you can afford to pay.  So pay.  Other people might not be in your position because they cannot go to work while nursery is closed.  So they will have time with their children instead.  No easy answer to this one, so many angry views expressed by people who are unhappy about their nursery. 

REJP

The original post was about paying for nursery fees.   Not childminders.  Can we either stick to the point about nurseries, or open a different thread about childminders, who also do a great job in their own homes?  There was a good point made about application for Pension Credit for older child minders, worth following up to see if persons qualify.  But remember to inform Pension Credit people when you start child minding income again.
Thank you.

Lucky999

If the company has closed by their own choice   I don’t thing you should pay, however if you want to guarantee your child’s space then they should come to some agreement for you as per your contract?  I’m a I’m a registered childminder but my husband is 70 and has asthma. I took the decision to close.  I have not charged my parents as it was my decision. However one of my parents has funded hours from college so I will continue to get paid from them which does cover my bills thank goodness.  One of my parents put in her notice before it all started so she was to pay full fees for month but now has lost her job so I again have told her not to pay as now closed.  I have guaranteed all my parents their space on the recovery of this awful pandemic and hope we all stay safe and well.  Hopefully we will find out this week if self employed people can claim anything. 

soryan25

Whilst I feel for people who are self employed, I would definitely not be paying a childminder if they have ceased their service of looking after my child. You need to think about your own financial needs. Especially if you have to pay someone else to now look after your child or if you have to remain at home out of work with no pay to look  after your child. As the days go by, the government are slowly committing to paying all different types of businesses who are loosing money. The question is, if your childminder eventually gets to claim money back, will they then refund all the fees you are allowing them to have for no service provided. This is the sticky point for me. Unfortunately if no service is provided, you are not obliged to pay. 

meknowalot-51

The government are putting in place measures to help small bussinesses for situations just like this,so i would say keep your money.If you feel like giving your money away then i'm sure that some homeless people would welcome your help.Another thing you should all try and grasp,this virus is here untill they find a cure,it's not short term and they say at least a year.Then they have to give it to all of us which could take another six months.We could easily be isolated on and off for 18 months and that's the best outlook.

rawhammered

erm....nope!

JamJar

No. Support will be provided to the owners.