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Do you think that families are penalised for working and get no support or help towards childcare?
I'll explain why im asking and my situation. We (my wife and i) have 3 children, two of which are under nursery age. We currently both work.
If we continue to both work after my wife returns after her maternity leave, we would have to use my entire wage plus an extra 300 pounds minimum to find full time childcare for the two children under nursery age.
the only alternative is i give up work and we live off one wage.
what are your thoughts?
I agree my friend, the system is in serious need of a re-think. Seems like it always penalises you for working. I've had experience of it and have sometimes found myself better off not working, which seems absurd to me!
Have you looked at childcare vouchers? This can save you quite a bit of money, though you do lose tax credits to some extent, so you have to be careful with the calculations
we have looked into the childcare vouchers and worked out what we save on one hand we have more taken away with the other it really isnt worth it
Hi there,
Great question about the childcare. I hadn't realised that it was so expensive. Have you looked the differences in paying a child minder/nanny compared to a nursery that caters for under 2's? If so, how do they compare?
Springchicken
we have looked into both child minders and private nursery. We have found where we live the prices are almost exactly the same and the difference is not enough to cover any shortfalls
also we would prefer a private nursery because if we use a childminder and the childminder falls ill or has an appointment of some sort then one of us would have to take time off work
One thing I have heard of is two mothers getting together and both taking part time jobs at different times and at the times that they aren't working, they look after the others child. No child minding fees and income from a part time job. I'm not sure about the legalities of whether registration is needed or whether there's any tax implications.
It is shocking the price of childcare especially when there are genuine people out there wanting to work.
Surely someone is profitting somewhere but who?
Is it the nursery? or the government?
A few years back when we found child minders fees to expensive we went down the Au Pair route, if you have a spare bedroom in your house it works out less expensive than a child minder.
Gooner
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