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View Full Version : Rise in childcare costs forcing parents out of work



snufflepuff
27-02-2012, 08:17 AM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17156383

The article doesn't read too badly but the newsreaders on BBC this morning don't seem to be putting it across in the same way. They gave the impression that it is the childcare providers fault for setting prices so high! No mention of why providers have put up their fees (higher food costs, higher utilities etc)....and that many of us still make a very minimal profit! (Not that I have put my fees up personally...I charge the average for my area of £3.50ph- I'm just making less profit than I used to because my expenses are higher but I feel that as I'm giving up in a few months time to have my baby I can't really put my fees up!)

Maybe I've just woken up in a bad mood but it has really annoyed me!

boxtree7
27-02-2012, 08:23 AM
I listened to this as well - What they really want is free childcare all day every day. :angry:

watgem
27-02-2012, 09:28 AM
I saw this in the daily mail, its very one-sided against us, again:mad:

rickysmiths
27-02-2012, 09:36 AM
So helpful to say that a part time space at nursery costs over £100 per week. How many days/hours and how many free hours.!!!

All this makes me so mad. Parents get so much now.

When I had my daughter 19 years ago I had 6 weeks at 90% pay before she was born then 6 weeks SMP and that was it. I was allowed to take 29 weeks off work but the last 23 were unpaid. No Tax Credits then either. Or Childcare Vouchers.

When I went back to work 33% of my salary was used to pay for a childminder. We just got on with it and didn't whine all the time about it not being fair or being too expensive.

Now if parents are on a low income they can get up to 70% paid for them meaning that they only pay £30 in every hundred. How cool is that.

With most of my parents my fees are probably no more than 10% of their income.


That was why when I had ds I decided to stay at home and I registered as a cm. But again I didn't expect to earn a full salary from day one. I had one child 4 hours every afternoon to start and then gradually built up. I could only have two under 8s anyway.

EmmaReed84
27-02-2012, 09:44 AM
I mind siblings (both under 5) 50 hours a week for a parent who is NOT entitled to anything... if anyone has the right to moan about any type of cost then it is her, however she is the nicest parent I have ever met and even paid me when I had a day off for the hospital!

I winds me up so much, it is almost like they are saying "How dare childcare providers earn a living for looking after our kids!" Hello childcare is a job like any other job... want to moan about people getting money lay off us and get on at the fatcat bankers and their bonuses!!!

We are an easy target!

AliceK
27-02-2012, 09:58 AM
I said to my OH this morning that I wont be able to watch this programme as I just know it will make me so mad. He told me that when he tells people at work that I'm a childminder their response is always "you must be minted then" :angry:. He soon puts them right and asks them if they would work a 12hour day for £3.75 an hour.

xxxx

sharonmanc
27-02-2012, 10:24 AM
They are debating it on the wright stuff this morning , i just emailed in, maybe drop them an email wrightstuff@channel5.com

MaryMary
27-02-2012, 10:56 AM
I think it is a Panorama report at 8.30 tonight. I might record it (and probably never watch it!! :p)
I haven't put my prices up since I started 3 years ago, as I don't think my parents are in a position to pay any more. Also a few of them may be losing their tax credits in April, unless they increase their hours :( I am competitive in my area, but I am not the cheapest, so it is about right anyway.

I agree with Rickysmiths though. My daughter has just turned 20, and I got nothing. I was off for the minimum of 18 weeks (and I HAD to leave work 6 weeks BEFORE my due date aswell!!). I went back to work when she was 4 months old, as I had no choice.

Ripeberry
27-02-2012, 11:28 AM
I listened to this as well - What they really want is free childcare all day every day. :angry:

Who's going to pay for us then the tax payers...NO! Because in the end it's the parents who pay. Why should they get free childcare? They can't carry on as they did before children. They cost money, so if they both want to carry on having a career then one parent is always going to lose out.
Makes you wonder how on earth people managed hundreds of years ago with no social security, no benefits and all the women had to work.
:(

LChurch
27-02-2012, 11:29 AM
Why do we always seem to have to justify what we do all day and for the pittance we get! I have spent the morning getting more books out for my lo, she loves reading, she also likes music so we have to do music (nursery rhymes), she is constantly demanding Night GArden but she doesn't get it unless she eats her lunch as a reward! We don't get a lunch break unlike those that work in an office. I know we are self emplyed but it makes me annoyed too. I would love to work elsewhere in an ideal world but don't want to miss out on my child's education/growing up etc. There aren't the jobs to fit around school hours etc forcing people onto benefits etc. There are so many arguments etc aren't there and we end up justifying everything!

stardust
27-02-2012, 11:50 AM
I have emailed them and asked if they could write an artical on the actual dinamics and amount or work that goes into childminding. If they go ahead with it would anyone be willing to share their average week along with mine to get our actual job accross rather than just the parents views? X

snufflepuff
27-02-2012, 11:52 AM
Great idea!

JCrakers
27-02-2012, 12:08 PM
This makes me cross as the amount of work we have to do not only looking after the children but all the expectations from Ofsted.

The paperwork including risk assessments, observations
The folders for each child
The educational activities following the eyfs
The outings
The cooking/food
The toys/activities like paint,playdough etc.
The professionalism we have
The courses and qualifications we have or are working towards


I charge £3.50 and believe this is a fair price for the amount of work involved. Lets get rid of all the above and then I will charge £2 per child and sit on my **** all day watching TV while the kids play with a few toys.
I wont be constantly on my feet throughout my 10hr day with seconds to go to the toilet, I wont engage myself with the children and make sure they are thriving, I wont feed them and I will sit with a nice cup of WARM coffee with my feet up.
Then I will get bored, depressed and start to resent my career. I will be in a bad mood all day and the children will have to see that. All for the measly fee of £2 per hour. If I have 2-3 younger children I might even be earning minimum wage.

The people who are moaning about the cost while they go and sit in their comfy office should try a day in the life of......then they might get off our backs :D

:angry:

AliceK
27-02-2012, 12:34 PM
This makes me cross as the amount of work we have to do not only looking after the children but all the expectations from Ofsted.

The paperwork including risk assessments, observations
The folders for each child
The educational activities following the eyfs
The outings
The cooking/food
The toys/activities like paint,playdough etc.
The professionalism we have
The courses and qualifications we have or are working towards


I charge £3.50 and believe this is a fair price for the amount of work involved. Lets get rid of all the above and then I will charge £2 per child and sit on my **** all day watching TV while the kids play with a few toys.
I wont be constantly on my feet throughout my 10hr day with seconds to go to the toilet, I wont engage myself with the children and make sure they are thriving, I wont feed them and I will sit with a nice cup of WARM coffee with my feet up.
Then I will get bored, depressed and start to resent my career. I will be in a bad mood all day and the children will have to see that. All for the measly fee of £2 per hour. If I have 2-3 younger children I might even be earning minimum wage.

The people who are moaning about the cost while they go and sit in their comfy office should try a day in the life of......then they might get off our backs :D

:angry:

:clapping: :clapping: Agree.
I was just talking to a parent at DD's pre-school today about their LJ's and mentioned that we as childminders also do them for EYFS children. She couldn't believe it. I said yes as registered childminders we have to deliver the EYFS the same as nurseries and foundation at school. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. No-one realises just how much paperwork we have to do and how many hoops we have to jump thro.

xxxx

nikki thomson
27-02-2012, 12:43 PM
I said to my OH this morning that I wont be able to watch this programme as I just know it will make me so mad. He told me that when he tells people at work that I'm a childminder their response is always "you must be minted then" :angry:. He soon puts them right and asks them if they would work a 12hour day for £3.75 an hour.

xxxx

Minted!!!! Are they having a laugh, I have one full time lo and earn £3.75hr before expenses and do loads with her, I take her swimming, toddler group, tumble tots snd I get a farm pass every year and that doesn't include petrol.
It's a 25 mile round trip to the farm and tumble tots snd swimmi g is 30mile round trip. So it annoys me greatly when her mum is whinging about the cost of childcare even more so when I discovered the other week she gets all her childcare costs paid for and she still can't pay me on time grrrr.

mindingmummy08
27-02-2012, 01:12 PM
I would love to see a show re a day in the life of a childminder or an article showing the amount of work involved I really would!

Too many people think we just sit back drink coffee and watch TV whilst taking these real workers money. I've heard things like yeah but she charges 3.50 per kid and can have 6 kids at a time imagine she must be raking it in!

I have not turned the TV on today after spotting this first thing because I would be too angry and it is my day off lol!

EmmaReed84
27-02-2012, 01:26 PM
I would love to see a show re a day in the life of a childminder or an article showing the amount of work involved I really would!

Too many people think we just sit back drink coffee and watch TV whilst taking these real workers money. I've heard things like yeah but she charges 3.50 per kid and can have 6 kids at a time imagine she must be raking it in!

I have not turned the TV on today after spotting this first thing because I would be too angry and it is my day off lol!

It is true if every single childminder was full to the brink we would be on good money if I was totally full, working 8am-6pm for 3x under 5's and charging £3.50 I would be on £525, if I then 3 over 5 from 3.30pm-6pm that would be £131.25. Times that by 48 weeks that is £31,500 (£2,265 p/m) that is BEST case, not including tax and expenses... I dont know any childminders who are totally fully to that degree... every single hour, every single space, every single day.

Yet primary school teachers "New entrants to the profession in England, Wales and Northern Ireland start on the main salary scale, which rises incrementally from £21,102 to £30,842. Enhanced pay scales apply for teachers working in or near London. Salaries in Northern Ireland are generally similar to those for England and Wales. In Scotland, the new entrants' starting salary is £21,438, rising incrementally to £34,200. Pay scales are reviewed annually. Details are available from the teaching unions and TeacherNet .
After gaining experience and expertise, teachers can apply to 'pass the threshold' and go onto an upper scale, which rises incrementally to £35,929. Particularly skilled classroom teachers may go on to become advanced skills teachers (ASTs) in England and Wales, or chartered teachers in Scotland. Other teachers may move into management positions. These roles attract considerable salary increases: ASTs earn from £36,618 to £55,669; chartered teachers can earn up to £41,925."...That is directly from prospects.ac.uk

Ripeberry
27-02-2012, 01:41 PM
That's the thing. Some people try and mentally calculate how much you must be paid per day depending on how many kids you have, but they don't think of factoring in tax, NI and expenses :rolleyes:

rickysmiths
27-02-2012, 01:45 PM
They have just interviewed an Nursery manager on ITV news. She said that costs have to rise because business rates, VAT, food, heating have all gone up so much that they have to pass this cost onto the parents.

mindingmummy08
27-02-2012, 01:47 PM
I am so lucky that I've filled my only under 5 space with a full timer (well not mondays but I'm happy with the long weekend while my own are still little) I've heard the "raking it" in quote about a childminder who I know is at full ratio at a particular toddler group but people don't realise she only has part time contracts and is realtively empty the rest of the week.

Its a shame the media and public begrudge us our wage because if more read this forum theyd see how much is actually put back into the childcare. Send one of us to Ikea with a months wages and I bet we could spend it entirely on the child it came from.

If I was paying a childminder and saw this site I would feel so happy at the time effort and money put into looking after my pride and joy i'd probably give her a bonus lol.

Playmate
27-02-2012, 01:55 PM
That's the thing. Some people try and mentally calculate how much you must be paid per day depending on how many kids you have, but they don't think of factoring in tax, NI and expenses :rolleyes:

This is so true. We charge £45 per day (just outside the London boroughs) and there are 2 of us, so we can have 6 x £45. However as fast as we get full, we loose one. Also we work an 11 hour day and our spaces are never full for the full day. We worked out a couple of months ago that we actually earn £2.50 per hour each :panic: It may have increased a little at the moment because we are fuller at present, but another month and we could loose one agian and not fill that space for a couple of months :(

WibbleWobble
27-02-2012, 01:58 PM
So helpful to say that a part time space at nursery costs over £100 per week. How many days/hours and how many free hours.!!!

All this makes me so mad. Parents get so much now.

When I had my daughter 19 years ago I had 6 weeks at 90% pay before she was born then 6 weeks SMP and that was it. I was allowed to take 29 weeks off work but the last 23 were unpaid. No Tax Credits then either. Or Childcare Vouchers.

When I went back to work 33% of my salary was used to pay for a childminder. We just got on with it and didn't whine all the time about it not being fair or being too expensive.

Now if parents are on a low income they can get up to 70% paid for them meaning that they only pay £30 in every hundred. How cool is that.

With most of my parents my fees are probably no more than 10% of their income.


That was why when I had ds I decided to stay at home and I registered as a cm. But again I didn't expect to earn a full salary from day one. I had one child 4 hours every afternoon to start and then gradually built up. I could only have two under 8s anyway.


same her....when katie was born (20 this year) there was no help. I had to go back to work or loose my job. Because she was born with so many medical and physical problems we chose a nanny as the best option. someone to give 121 care and take her to appointments etc. Nanny also looked after Emily who was 5.

ALL my pay went to the nanny....actually after paying out NI etc i was out of pocket. we lived on my then husbands charge nurse salary.

I have never regretted doing this. My job was important and i always knew it wouldnt be forever like that.


mandy xxxxx

manjay
27-02-2012, 01:59 PM
Well I am reading the report as a really intersting piece of research:rolleyes:. The news report I have just seen had someone from NDNA giving an explanation of why childcare costs have risen but that doesn't take away from the fact that the cost has increased more than most peoples salaries.

As usual I think the research has been over-sensationalised for effect but then we know the media always do that.

There have been responses to the report from the major child care associations some of which can be seen here (http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1119150/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate)

Ripeberry
27-02-2012, 02:00 PM
Well the invoices are going out today to my parents and its a 5 week month so one bill is massive! :eek: But then April I only get paid for 2 weeks so they take the rough with the smooth. I'm term-time only and don't charge a retainer.

primula
27-02-2012, 11:17 PM
some minders in my area are charging £7.00 ph per child. 60.00 a day 250.00-300.00 a week. Nurseries from about 225.00 a week. some parents seem to get help with costs, some don't. sounds expensive to me.

watgem
28-02-2012, 09:06 AM
I don't think parents understand that although we are getting so much per hour per child, out of that we have to pay for Ofsted fees, insurance, national insurance, tax, training courses, equipment/resources, food, petrol, trips, we work long long hours and have to do paperwork cleaning etc in our own time, no overtime payments, lunch breaks etc,with the result that we are not left with a lot. we also do not sick pay and many of us do not get holiday pay. Parents often pay us late or not at all, I'm sure none of our parents would work for the pay and conditions we are prepared to accept lol:mad: