Childcare cost - less than £1500 pm in Clapham junction? Post Reply

[clapmum]

Hello mums,

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I'm feeling a little bit desperate: is it possible to pay less than £1400-1500 per month for a full time childcare in our neighbourhood?
My daughter has just started nursery and she seems happy there, but the price is so expensive that we're struggling a bit. I've started to look for another option - only to find out that in the end nannies and childminders ask roughly the same price, if not more (£8-10 ph, right?)... Is there a way to fing a cheaper yet good quality childcare, apart from moving to another area? Did I miss something here? Or maybe I'm the only mummy who finds it excessive to pay the equivalent of another rent/mortgage?

Any advice welcome, thank you very much for your help!

[MGMidget]

Nannyshare? There are websites where people advertise offering to share their nanny including Nappyvalleynet but also 'nannyshare' and 'thenannysharers'.

[kiwimummy]

with nannies, you have to factor in the tax, as these positions are usually paid as net - ie nanny receives NET 8-10, and employer pays income tax, employee's ni and employer's ni. there are calculators online which can help you work out what that is.

not to be unhelpful, it's just to make sure you have the full picture.

[shellbell83]

Nannyshare is the least expensive option.
The rate is £6 an hour this includes tax and insurance so this is what the rate would be over all.
So depending on the hours, but a typical day being 7.30 ~ 6.30 u would pay £66 a day, so £330 a week so it works out roughly £1,400 a month as monthly wages are worked out differently. But this includes tax and insurance for the nanny. so u wouldnt have anything else to pay extra..

So for a nanny her wages would be around £2.800 before tax and insurance is taken out.

Ur other option being, become a nanny yourself

Good luck

[Mum2Monkey]

I'm not sure about Clapham Junction, but in Clapham South / Balham there are a few nurseries which charge around £1000 per month - although many do charge £1400 to £1500. I know a few mums who send their kids to them and they seem really happy. The main difference seems to be that they old take children from a year and that they are a little further from the tube station. Might be worth phoning around a few nurseries in Clapham Junction.

I'm not sure a nanny share works out much cheaper than a nursery. However childminders are meant to be better value .... if you can find one, that is!

[clapmum]

Thank your very much for all your helpful advice - I have to stick to Clapham Junction area and my daughter is less than a year old, but I'll definitely look into the nanny-share option (also had absolutely no idea about the taxes so thanks a lot!)
Have a nice Bank Holiday weekend !

[mrsbalham]

We pay £45 a day for a childminder in balham, which is about average (and she's great). And as someone else mentioned, there are nurseries in the area which are cheaper, around £50 a day, but maybe it's an SW12 / SW11 thing.

[RJW81]

Shellbell I would suggest that the £66 per day would be net, not 'all in'... as the going rate for a nanny share is around £12per hr (I have researched this, very recently), for a 10hr day a nanny could expect £120 NET per day. More if she was working longer hours. The employers would split this amount, but they would BOTH have to pay tax, and national insurance contributions, ON TOP. So employers would pay just over £1300 net each to the nanny (assuming she was employed 10hx5 days), but it is very important to remember that they must BOTH pay all the tax and NI on top of this.

[KEMS]

Hi there, we use a childminder who is absolutely excellent! We pay 5.00 per hour for a 10 hr day (8 to 6) so this would work out cheaper for you. Try contacting the Wandsworth Childminder Association - they have coffee mornings where you can drop in and meet local minders who have vacancies. Good luck!