Childcare - what people are doing during this pandemic?

Are you still paying?

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RumNCoke

Chatty Member
Hi,

Just looking to see what people are doing in regards to childcare during this pandemic.

If people normally use nurseries or childminders and you don't require the care now - are you still paying? Is it reduced fees? What's the set up?
 
Hello,

My daughter goes to a nursery (quite a few round the country with the same name) and their terms and conditions state that if they close the nursery for longer than 3 days then you don’t pay. We haven’t had to pay our April fees and I doubt we will pay May either.
 
RumNCoke said:
Hi,

Just looking to see what people are doing in regards to childcare during this pandemic.

If people normally use nurseries or childminders and you don't require the care now - are you still paying? Is it reduced fees? What's the set up?
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I am furloughed and husband working from home. My sons nursery arent charging a penny while they are closed which is amazing of them.
 
My nursery asked if anyone could keep paying they'd appreciate it so they can keep paying the staff. I'm still paying my share, not sure what ex is doing. I've got less outgoings just now cos wfh, and only pay 1 day pw anyway.
 
JCMSadie said:
My nursery asked if anyone could keep paying they'd appreciate it so they can keep paying the staff. I'm still paying my share, not sure what ex is doing. I've got less outgoings just now cos wfh, and only pay 1 day pw anyway.
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Do they not claim the government help?
 
Yes im still paying my sons nursery with a 50% discount. I understand they have to pay wages and the nursery staff are lovely so I dont mind helping towards that but Im hoping that once they have access to the government help to pay wages I won't have to pay anymore.

They did claim it was to also ensure that my childs place is kept which makes no sense as the nursery is closed so who would take my childs place plus hes due to start school in September.
 
Deepsigh2018 said:
Yes im still paying my sons nursery with a 50% discount. I understand they have to pay wages and the nursery staff are lovely so I dont mind helping towards that but Im hoping that once they have access to the government help to pay wages I won't have to pay anymore.

They did claim it was to also ensure that my childs place is kept which makes no sense as the nursery is closed so who would take my childs place plus hes due to start school in September.
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Will you get reimbursed when they reclaim their losses from the government help?

I just can't get my head around how it's on the parents (who may be laid off, on ssp, on 80% themselves) to pay for the staff?

We're not paying for meals in restaurants we're not going to or clothes we haven't bought so I don't understand why we need to pay for childcare, essentially burning money!
 
I work in a nursery and we were open for Key workers children. We had a 20 a day booked in and no more than 6 showed up so we made the decision to close.

We are not charging parents and we were not getting paid, but we are now getting furloughed so will be getting 80% of our wage.

According to one of our delightful parents, he said even if you were charging during closure, I wouldn't pay as you are overpaid anyway for such a simple job.

Not quite sure how being paid minimum wage is overpaid but still, there you go!

Deepsigh2018 said:
Yes im still paying my sons nursery with a 50% discount. I understand they have to pay wages and the nursery staff are lovely so I dont mind helping towards that but Im hoping that once they have access to the government help to pay wages I won't have to pay anymore.

They did claim it was to also ensure that my childs place is kept which makes no sense as the nursery is closed so who would take my childs place plus hes due to start school in September.
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The only time we charged parents to keep a place was when they decided at the beginning of March to not send their child but we were still open as normal then (first born and parents are very paranoid) they were told you either withdraw completly or you pay for the space as we have a waiting list and can't keep a place without payment. They chose to pay to keep the place.

We were told on the Wednesday before lockdown was announced and before the Furlough scheme that we would be closing on the Friday and it would be unpaid because parents couldn't be charged if a service wasn't being provided.
 
We choose - we are paying in full but will then get it reimbursed once it reopens eg if we pay for three months we won’t have to pay for the first three months once reopened. This is dependant on personal circumstances as some aren’t paying at all which I think is fair if they are no longer earning. We are happy to support them whilst we can as it’s not just staff costs that need to be covered. A lot of these settings are independent and don’t have the financial clout behind them of a national chain. Our nursery has said it will reopen but be considerably smaller depending on how long this goes on for. I think a lot of smaller settings may be forced to permanently close.
 
My childminder asked for £50 to secure a place when things go back to normal. I’m a key worker and a single parent so my little one does Tuesdays (she normally does 3 days there and 2 with family) but I’m not paying anything currently as I had her paid for to be attending her normal days this month.
 
RumNCoke said:
Will you get reimbursed when they reclaim their losses from the government help?

I just can't get my head around how it's on the parents (who may be laid off, on ssp, on 80% themselves) to pay for the staff?

We're not paying for meals in restaurants we're not going to or clothes we haven't bought so I don't understand why we need to pay for childcare, essentially burning money!
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I doubt it. It is a massive financial burden I'm sure on a lot of parents even with a discount.

Its a shame that man doesn't realise the hard work that goes into caring for other peoples children. I think the nursery staff that care for my son do an amazing job. He always leaves happy and talks about his day for hours after. Hes really missing going there
 
We are paying still, I think 60% so they can pay the staff and to keep the places when it re opens.
 
Deepsigh2018 said:
I doubt it. It is a massive financial burden I'm sure on a lot of parents even with a discount.

Its a shame that man doesn't realise the hard work that goes into caring for other peoples children. I think the nursery staff that care for my son do an amazing job. He always leaves happy and talks about his day for hours after. Hes really missing going there
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I absolutely agree that it's a lot of work and they are grossly underpaid (especially considering how much we are charged per day for the service) but I'm struggling with paying (50%) both financially and morally as I know they will be able to reclaim their losses from the government. At a time when my partners working day by day and could be forced to stop any minute leaving us with just one reduced income, paying out £500 for childcare when my kids are at home just seems absolutely insane.
 
I agree with you at my nursery they are also still claiming the 30 hours free vouchers too which I'm not sure how that gets paid money wise but I feel that now that they can get financial help they should stop charging.

Sorry the second part of my post was in response to Emily Chambers and the parent who was rude about nursery workers. I should have quoted to make it clear.
 
Yes - from my understanding (or what I'm being charged) is that providers get 4.50 per hour of "free" childcare (so in my daughters case, my providers would get 78.75 per week (17.5hrs) regardless if she's there or not. And that is being claimed on top of charging fees.
 
I’m paying my voucher contribution (if I leave I get kicked out) but this will just go to reducing fees when they reopen. Mine is still open for key worker families.
 
RumNCoke said:
Yes - from my understanding (or what I'm being charged) is that providers get 4.50 per hour of "free" childcare (so in my daughters case, my providers would get 78.75 per week (17.5hrs) regardless if she's there or not. And that is being claimed on top of charging fees.
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The funded hourly rate varies from region to region.

For example, our hourly rate at nursery works out at 5.90 per hour (full day fee divided by total opening hours) our funded rate is £3.60.

Theres no cost to parents as they can send them for just the funded hours (term time only) but it means nursery is still running at a loss per hour.

The Government agreed to still pay the funding rates to help nurseries get through this.

Our monthly outgoings are £35,000 and wages our are biggest outgoing followed by rent, rates, insurances and fees and food. Our food bill alone is £2,000 a month.

While childcare is a killer, please don't for one minute think we are rolling in it.

1 full time child fee doesn't cover a full time member of staffs wages. The funded hours save parents money but it doesnt match the nurseries hourly rate.
 
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