above average?

so last week i delved into my coat pocket to be starkly reminded of what our child care costs amount to each month. OUCH. i spoke on the radio about it and the lovely people at LBC fell over in shock. it is indeed more than our mortgage.

today in the press and on the news there were numerous articles/reports on how nursery costs are rising by nearly 6%, and that fewer families are now getting any help at all with these, following the childcare tax credit cuts back in april.

daycare trusts annual survey reported that the average cost of 25 hours of child care is around £100. however the most expensive nursery fee recorded in the survey maxed out at £300 for 25 hours, that equals to £15,000 for a full year of child care, of just 2 1/2 days a week!

so actually what does that make our annual bill? *taps calculator* sixteen thousand, five hundred and seventy-eight pounds and thirty-six pence. (if i type it out i can’t see it you see). clearly we are distinctly above average. jeez louise these are hefty numbers.

now i know for a FACT that the lovely ladies at the nursery don’t even get paid as much as we pay for the childcare and believe me they truly truly deserve it.  i’ve tried finding out exactly how much before, but i am lead to believe that absolute top whack is around 15k, and 17k if you are room leader. but that is top whack, so how many truly get paid anywhere near that at all?

what pours more salt into the wounds is that you sign up for your hours, your weekly attendance, ronnie is full-time, which is 7.30 – 17.30 which is a long old day and as part of my package at work i get 6 weeks holiday. however you pay the nursery monthly and it is calculated on a 51 week year, as the nursery is shut for one full week over christmas and the new year. no other holiday allowance is made, so if you choose to take your holiday entitlement and spend time with your family you still have to pay the fees regardless! so for my 6 weeks holiday entitlement, i still get the pleasure to pay £1950.39 a year for childcare that i just don’t get. that surely is wrong? and that really does need to change. i would actually consider that to be fraud in my books paying for a service you just don’t get.

yes it is true that both parents can claim childcare vouchers through their employers but that is basically completely funding my 6 week holiday, so all a bit pointless really, rob peter to pay paul or is that rob paul to pay peter?? you know what i mean.

so tell me where is all this cash going? someone somewhere is getting very very rich at the expense of every parent that depends on the service. captured audience. in the words of catherine tate “what a f*cking liberty”

Comments

  1. February 27, 2012 / 21:22

    They are getting rich! It’s the nursery owners! I’ve been looking into it and my next career move is to open my own nursery then retire in 3 years doing an evil cackling laugh and taking a bath in £20 notes!

    • February 27, 2012 / 21:26

      pret-a-mummy

      filthy rich and i bet it’s £50 notes with some gold bullion lurking disguised as bars of soap!

  2. February 27, 2012 / 21:22

    I feel your pain on this one. Now we’ve got two in nursery I actually try not to think how much it’s costing for fear I will be so depressed by the miniscule amount of my salary it actually leaves I’ll resign in a fit of peak. I suppose we’ve done ourselves no favours by living in the middle of the city as it means the nurseries can pretty much set any price because they are quite oversubscribed. Maybe while he’s small I could take T to work in my handbag and just placate him with wotsits pushed through a gap in the zip throughout the day.

    • February 27, 2012 / 21:31

      cat

      that’s just reminded me of the receptionist in the britas empire where she keep her babies in the drawers!

  3. February 27, 2012 / 21:46

    Did you just watch ‘The cost of raising Britain’? Lets all move to Norway. All fees are capped at £250 a month, no matter how much the parents earn. And, AND some nurseries offer sleep overs, so the parents can have a night off!! AKA MUMA

    • February 27, 2012 / 21:54

      alice treherne

      oh my really??? what channel i need to see this!

  4. February 28, 2012 / 08:04

    I cannot get over what you pay in childcare, it’s nearly what my partner earns in a year! Our long term plans are to do a job share so we can share childcare, this has made me even more certain that it’s the right move for us.

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