Realistically, when do the child care costs calm down?

[RUI488]

Evening all.

Bit of experienced advice please on when the pretty tight squeeze on our house hold finances will loosen a bit?
2 kids, both under 4, with 14 months between them.
One child gets 23hrs/week funded, other one won’t qualify until September ‘25.
Current child care for 3 F/T days/week is £1200 a month.
Both earning slightly over U.K. national average, no debt except a £120/month loan and a mortgage.
No store cards, no credit cards, no car finance etc
We also both start work before school starts and finish work after school finishes, so there’s going to be costs there for wrap-around care when we get to school age.

I’m also half expecting a “It doesn’t really calm down, just changes!” response.

Thanks in advance.

[Caddyshack]

When they go to school - assuming you don’t go private.

[Ollie.]

RUI488 said:

One child gets 23hrs/week funded, other one won’t qualify until September ‘25.

You should be able to claim childcare for both, 15 hours a week from 9 months old kicked in from September this year - https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/09/02/how-to...

[mikef]

After the masters degree, unless you want your kids to take out student loans

[RUI488]

Ollie. said:

You should be able to claim childcare for both, 15 hours a week from 9 months old kicked in from September this year - https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/09/02/how-to...

We’re in Scotland mate.
Thanks for responses so far

[RUI488]

Caddyshack said:

When they go to school - assuming you don’t go private.

I can barely afford the life we’re living now where we have incredibly small (relatively speaking) amounts of discretionary spending, so unless there’s a lottery win there’s no way we could afford a none state education for them.

Edited by RUI488 on Thursday 28th November 21:07

[Ollie.]

RUI488 said:

We’re in Scotland mate.
Thanks for responses so far

Ah! In that case, probably September ‘25. Mine’s still nursery age but I’ve got friends with kids that are school age and wraparound care doesn’t sound to be particularly expensive.

[Heathwood]

I’ve been there and it is expensive. It doesn’t really get any better until they’re both in school. The only thing I would say is that once they both needed a nursery place, it was notably cheaper to have a nanny (not live in), so don’t dismiss that as a possibility.

[Caddyshack]

RUI488 said:

Caddyshack said:

When they go to school - assuming you don’t go private.

I can barely afford the life we’re living now where we have incredibly small (relatively speaking) amounts of discretionary spending, so unless there’s a lottery win there’s no way we could afford a none state education for them.

Edited by RUI488 on Thursday 28th November 21:07

Should be fine by school age then, sorry to hear it’s tough. We stopped at one child, it’s no fun having to watch every penny and not enjoy the time with them…is does pass quickly which is great from the money perspective but bad if you cannot enjoy each minute.

[WelshRich]

Our two are 23 months apart and it was a killer when they were both in full time childcare - The solution for us was changing to a childminder when they started infant school, she lived near the school so did the wraparound and full days during the holidays. Way cheaper and far more flexible than nursery, only downside was that we had to align our family holidays to be the same dates that she took hers.

[Silvanus]

Caddyshack said:

When they go to school - assuming you don’t go private.

Then comes the clubs and hobbies

[okgo]

The minute they leave nursery of course.

Our private school is thousands a year cheaper than the nursery was.

[mikef]

okgo said:

The minute they leave nursery of course.

Our private school is thousands a year cheaper than the nursery was.

And university fees are cheaper still

[popegregory]

Caddyshack said:

When they go to school - assuming you don’t go private.

Don’t even start on the amount we pay for breakfast club and after school club

[Sheepshanks]

okgo said:

The minute they leave nursery of course.

Our private school is thousands a year cheaper than the nursery was.

What happens outside school hours?

[okgo]

Sheepshanks said:

What happens outside school hours?

Even with 90 mins extra after school it’s significantly less.

[RUI488]

Caddyshack said:

Should be fine by school age then, sorry to hear it’s tough. We stopped at one child, it’s no fun having to watch every penny and not enjoy the time with them…is does pass quickly which is great from the money perspective but bad if you cannot enjoy each minute.

Our youngest wasn’t planned or expected, but neither of us would ever have got an abortion so we had no choice.
It is basically cripplingly expensive ATM but i wouldn’t change either of them for all the money in the world.

The mrs had looked in to a child minder and we nearly went through with it but she wouldn’t accept the 20% government scheme and so we went with a nursery.
Then 5 months later she shut her child minding business so that would have been incredibly frustrating had we gone through with it.

Thanks for the replies all and i’ll mention child minder again for them once they’re both at primary school.

[Sheepshanks]

okgo said:

Even with 90 mins extra after school it’s significantly less.

So how much is a nursery day in London then - it must be immense?

Are you accounting for school holiday cover? They’re only in school for two thirds of the year, whereas you might have been paying for a whole year of nursury.

[okgo]

Sheepshanks said:

So how much is a nursery day in London then - it must be immense?

Are you accounting for school holiday cover? They’re only in school for two thirds of the year, whereas you might have been paying for a whole year of nursury.

This from website of nursery. Monthly fees.

Standard fees
3 days
£1,491.75
4 days
£1,889.55*
Full time
£2,299.78*

Holiday camps are still considerably cheaper than nursery per day. Around half. But yes it likely narrows the gap. But when you see what the kids get up to and have access to at the school it makes it seem exceptional value.

Nurseries in the U.K. are a joke, you could divide those numbers by ten in most major EU countries and it would be close.

[croyde]

Both boys 18 and 22. Don't work and eat like horses. Plus 18 year old has a nasty drug habit where the dealer gives him 'free' stuff, then threatens so his mum pays the bill.

If they both lived with me they'd be both on the street, as I have spent loads and have had enough.

Daughter is mid 20s, is a lovely person, independent and doing fine.

Just a warning folks, the early years are the easiest.