What are the parents opinions

[tulip0803]

I would like to point out to Nana that the breakdowns quoted in my post are after taxable deductions and that the childminder could be caring for up to 6 children and only earning £2.50 an hour total from all those children's fees after expences have been taken into account. The childminders wage is not the fee the child's parent pays but for what is left after all expences are taken into account.

I know you care deeply about your grandchildren but the childminders, and nurseries, which tax credits is used to pay are highly trained in the latest childcare and children's learning techniques. These are normally funded by the childminder and done in their spare time. The vast majority of childminders go above and beyond their call of duty. Childminders have a duty to ensure that children are learning during all their time with them and are regularly checked and inspected to ensure that this is happening.

[caza]

I have read all the posts regarding FEM1's posting. Am quite surprised at the ferocity of some of the replies I have to say.
I was interested in the breakdown of costs,and was wondering ,have you accountants? as you do know that many of the items mentioned are tax deductable,also depreciation on assets.
I sympathise with Fem1 obviously she has thought her childminder was secure and after 6 months to be told she was raising her fees by £1 per child seems to be quite a large hype to me that is a rise of 25 % per child, wage rises are governed at around 2 1/2%,I think we all would love a 25% wage rise per hour we would be laughing all the way to the bank.
Yes childminders work hard as do mums and Nanas,I only wish the government would allow grandparents and near relatives to help in cases of childminding it would solve many problems and those close to a family would understand the financial situation better.
I to have gone on courses I feed young children daily and have to ensure their well being,no slacking in hygene or anything like that lol I would love to get £4 per child for even 2 hours I would be going on a world cruise for my holidays.
Perhaps stricter guidelines are needed to protect parents and children,as you all say good child care is invaluable well so is childrens peace of mind and wellbeing and you must appreciate that switching childminders is very traumatic for the child and his or her parents.
Again I would suggest you find out about the tax benifits of being self employed as there are many,you know as well you can claim for a share of heating costs as an overhead ? using a room as an office?
Best of luck and remember mums do work hard and do worry and do not like being let down by people in whom they have placed their trust.

I really think that you should try putting the shoe on the other foot for a moment and think about what it must like from a childminders point of view. I am not yet a registered childminder but I can completely understand this subject has annoyed everyone so much. Many of these women work for less than £3 an hour. Most people wouldn't get out of bed for less than the minimum wage and even then that wouldn't be good enough!

I have been a full time mum struggling to make ends meet. I have also worked from home doing small jobs whilst being a full time mum. I was never entitled to any tax credits as my husband earned enough aparently! So many times i have said how unfair it is that you can pay a fortune for someone else to look after your child yet you get nothing for doing it yourself.

However, never in a million years would I expect any childminder to work for next to nothing just to make my life easier which almost seems to be what your saying. And yes a lot of things may be tax deductable but thats not to say that at the end of the year they are rolling in the money. In fact when I started looking into childming I was suprised at how little childminder earn and I was certainly overwhelmed with the amount work that goes into being a childminder.

FEM1 came on here with the sole purpose of venting her frustration on all the childminders on this site and in the proccess was quite insulting. Many of us childminders included have financial worries just we dont all go round blaming other people for them!

Caroline

[Mags]

Originally Posted by feml
As a parent, l have been searching for support in regards to childminding regulations and stumbled upon this site. My childminder has raised her rate by £1.00 and has not had the children more than 6 months. I now have to pay £270 per week for 2 children. l get support, therefore l have to pay £360 per month, l only earn £598, then the fuel for the 25 mile drive too work.

So tell me this why did you all start childminding as it sound to me that you are a law to yourselfs and more concerend about making money than the well fair of the children and there mum and dad. You complain when parents feel the pinch and have such a high opinion of yoursefls. Your posting are disgusting on your employees that are earning a lot less than what you are charging. And, no not everybody gets paid bank holidays or get days in liu or pay rises that match your increases, l get none of these luxerys. I have never complained to my childminder, l have had no need to until l read this site. My childminder is brilliant but she is to expensive for what l earn. I am appauled by your comments! l need to work to support our BASIC bills but would love even more to stay at home with my children. I can not afford to do either. My question to you is "What do l do!" as you seem to have all the answers.


I READ YOUR POST QUITE EARLY THIS MORNING AND DIDN'T REPLY IMEADIATELY DUE TO THE FACT THAT I FOUND IT TO BE QUITE AN INSULT.
HOWEVER AFTER GIVING IT SOME THOUGHT I HAVE TO SAY THAT I STILL FEEL THE SAME WAY!!!!!!!
SURELY YOU SHOULD BE DISCUSSING THIS WITH YOUR CHILDMINDER?????
IF YOUR CHILDMINDER IS BRILLIANT....AS YOU SAY SHE IS.......WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT THE REST OF US ARE ANY DIFFERENT???
WE ARE JUST THE SAME AS YOU....WE NEED TO MAKE A LIVING....WE MAKE OURS BY DOING SOMETHING THAT WE LOVE!!!!!!!!!

[teacake2]

Hi, I have read all the comments about our "two new members who are not happy with childminders", I am beginning to wonder if this is not some sort of set up by the media. Remembering the BBC Whisperer series recently aired, we all know that there are some childminders who do not have the children at the forefront of their business and see it as an easy way to make lots of money, the true childminders among us know what we all offer to our children and our parents and take comments made by the other two as an offence. Do any others think the same way I do or am I just being paranoid?
Teacake2

[flora]

if their intention was to get a reaction they certainly got one

[wendywu]

I think it is a set up of some kind, or a wind up.

I think we should adopt the attitude, yer yer what ever, you can think what you like. What ever you say will not affect my life one jot. My parents are happy the children are happy and the proof is i have always been full. End of story

[Jinx]

when you raise your fees?

I've only raised mine once so far, one of the parents were fine but the other one insisted on going and checking her contract to see if I had stated fee rises in there, she came back to me and said I'd not stipulated in the contract that I would raise my fees while I cared for her child so she wasn't happy

anyone else had adverse reactions lol

Also byu how much do you raise yours? I went from £3.25 to £3.50

I have just sent a newsletter to my parents stating that my fees will go up by 30p per hour as of September. (In line with others in my area.) None of them have a problem with it, infact the one parent who gets Tax credits help said she'll put it up straight away!!

Jinx x

[avril]

Just read this thread and cannot believe the attitude of our 2 new members
I started childminding when I had my first child so I could stay at home with my own child and offer support to other parents who felt the need to work. I trained whilst pregnant in the evenings and weekends after finishing a full time job and needless to say found it very tiring but it was what I wanted to do and 5yrs down the line still enjoy, the children and families I have and do work with have been fantastic and I feel priviledged that I can support them and care for their children.
The fact that a childminder has raised her fees by £1 is not our fault so to come on here and to insult childminders from up and down the country is terrible. If feml is not satisfied with her cm , her fees, the mileage she drives to work and the amount she earns do something about it don't insult us.

[jaja]

Hi, I have only put my fees up by 50p in the last five years and none of my parents have ever complained, i only increased it because i was the cheapest one in the area and i will inflation (sp?)

NOW i wonder is feml and nana are the same people, dont call me paranoid BUT they both apparently joined on the same day! they both have the same view! and same way of talking!! and they both have only left one message each, which were left to (in my opinion)to upset, unerve and basically get out backs up!!!!!!!!
They had no real reason to come on here and start this attack on childminders at all.

What do you all think? doesnt it seem strange to you????

[cloud9]

I have read all the posts regarding FEM1's posting. Am quite surprised at the ferocity of some of the replies I have to say.
I was interested in the breakdown of costs,and was wondering ,have you accountants? as you do know that many of the items mentioned are tax deductable,also depreciation on assets.
I sympathise with Fem1 obviously she has thought her childminder was secure and after 6 months to be told she was raising her fees by £1 per child seems to be quite a large hype to me that is a rise of 25 % per child, wage rises are governed at around 2 1/2%,I think we all would love a 25% wage rise per hour we would be laughing all the way to the bank.
Yes childminders work hard as do mums and Nanas,I only wish the government would allow grandparents and near relatives to help in cases of childminding it would solve many problems and those close to a family would understand the financial situation better.
I to have gone on courses I feed young children daily and have to ensure their well being,no slacking in hygene or anything like that lol I would love to get £4 per child for even 2 hours I would be going on a world cruise for my holidays.
Perhaps stricter guidelines are needed to protect parents and children,as you all say good child care is invaluable well so is childrens peace of mind and wellbeing and you must appreciate that switching childminders is very traumatic for the child and his or her parents.
Again I would suggest you find out about the tax benifits of being self employed as there are many,you know as well you can claim for a share of heating costs as an overhead ? using a room as an office?
Best of luck and remember mums do work hard and do worry and do not like being let down by people in whom they have placed their trust.

I to am disgusted that fem1 can come on here and basically put us all down. But what i have also noticed is the fact that this poor child minder who put her fee's up is also being trashed, yet nobody knows her reasons. For example this child minder may be new to the job and it was her first contract and she didn't realize the costs involved in child minding. She then found what she had done and realized she needed to put her fee's up. Are we all saying she's wrong to do this, surely she cant be expected to keep them at the same cost if she has quoted to low. We all run our own business's and have contract reviews and we are all entitled to re-assess them at any point. I dont think its fair this childminder is being criticized for this.

Another thing i noticed was that in the original post it wasn't mentioned how much she was paying before the increase. I'm guessing this lady selected her childminder by the cheapest in her area and is now annoyed because her childminder has realized her prices were to low so has had to re-asses her prices!.

Some people are saying we're being to quick to judge this parent but i feel that the childminder is being un-fairly judged.

Oh and one last comment to the parent I am really not surprised if she has just raised her prices to either get you to leave or to compensate her for the fact you are obviously such a pain.

I also notice that you haven't actually posted again if you had come on here and expressed your opinions in a non aggressive manner you would have found people offering you support and advice on dealing with the issue.

As for nana you clearly know nothing about our accounts or you would realize that even with tax deductibles we still don't take home a lot we do childminding because we love looking after children not because we're gonna become millionaires! good luck trying to go on a cruise with our salaries!

[Jinx]

How did Nana know that £1 was a 25% increase without knowing the original amount?

Jinx x
aka...Miss Marple

[charleyfarley]

Well spotted !!!! Miss Marple

Carol xx

[crazybones]

How did Nana know that £1 was a 25% increase without knowing the original amount?

Jinx x
aka...Miss Marple

Aha. Did you just work out Blue's Clue's.

Sorry but well done I didnt notice that

[jaja]

you see what i mean jinx!!!!! i think they are the same person, check out the date they both joined, and they only added to one thread etc etc etc is there any way of checking pauline? to see if we are right. Have to say if i was fem then after the replys she had i wouldnt add another word in her name she clearly upset us all.

And another thought, how would the childminder feel knowing that the parent has been on here basically slagging her off for raising her prices, because if i was the cm then she would be getting immediate notice as of first thing in the morning!!!!! If you are out there cm, get rid. and good luck with raising your prices, at the end of the day its your business and you can decide what business you want and what you charge, you are certainly not employed by parents.

Good luck cm xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Pauline]

is there any way of checking pauline?

Don't worry, let's just say they have had my undivided attention since arriving

[Jinx]

I'm not sure they are the same person...look at the grammer and spelling, but I'm certain they know each other and did this together!

And what does she mean by this: quote: I have never complained to my childminder, l have had no need to until l read this site.????

So she wasn't going to complain about the £1 increase, but is going to complain about the forum!!!! Why was she on here in the first place? Stranger and stranger!!

Jinx x

[Pipsqueak]

I'm not sure they are the same person...look at the grammer and spelling, but I'm certain they know each other and did this together!

And what does she mean by this: quote: I have never complained to my childminder, l have had no need to until l read this site.????

So she wasn't going to complain about the £1 increase, but is going to complain about the forum!!!! Why was she on here in the first place? Stranger and stranger!!

Jinx x

I wonder if her childminder is on this site then???? Or that she has read the posts about fees and thinks her minder is ripping her off! Who knows but I am guessing they won't come back.

Its a shame because it would be nice occasionally to bounce things of parents on here - in a reasonable and adult fashion!

[ajs]

can't chat off on my round the world cruise in the morning back in 6 months
i'll miss you all

xxx

[Pipsqueak]

can't chat off on my round the world cruise in the morning back in 6 months
i'll miss you all

xxx

Only for 6 months - mine is for 9months See you in the Med!!!

[ajs]

oh pip you must get paid more then me