Creche fees. How much are you paying?

GaGa21

angela1711 wrote:

Don’t be fooled. I don’t know a single childminder that would pay their taxes. 15e an hour ?? It’s a pure joke to be paying someone this kind of money for minding your child. They usually have jobseekers or other social welfare payment on top of whatever you are paying them. Where I live, the going rate for a childminder is 4-7e an hour and the crèche is 4-5e an hour.

A childminder who is taking more than 1 child will probably take that low hourly rate to bump up their social welfare payment.
But for any experienced, qualified childminder/nanny working in one family home, they should expect at least minimum wage, if not the living wage.
I have been a nanny for 20 years, paying my tax so I have wage slips and bank statements to apply for loans, a mortgage, like everyone else.
I have worked for a low wage for years and have been able to earn good money for years due to experience, something some parents are willing(if able) to pay for.
So you may think it's a "joke" to be paying well to mind a child. But some parents will pay for quality care in their absence.

Sorry about that

angela1711 wrote: »

Don’t be fooled. I don’t know a single childminder that would pay their taxes. 15e an hour ?? It’s a pure joke to be paying someone this kind of money for minding your child. They usually have jobseekers or other social welfare payment on top of whatever you are paying them. Where I live, the going rate for a childminder is 4-7e an hour and the crèche is 4-5e an hour.

Pay peanuts...

Cash_Q

As others have said, childminder in the minder's home is cheaper. Not all minders would be claiming SW and topping it up with cash in hand, I reckon they can manage on a lower wage as they've no childcare costs themselves and are free to go about their own business excluding school runs etc.

Post an ad on Rollercoaster setting out your requirements, meet with any respondents that seem to fit and ask what they charge Be guided by them, we went with the middle priced minder because of location, experience, family dynamic and overall sense about her. We couldn't be happier with her. It's expensive but nowhere near what you're paying for creche. We do only have one child but I don't think minders charge the same way as creches, maybe a slight increase per child rather than a price per head.

Millem

traveller2 wrote: »

Have two kids in a crèche and got a land in recent weeks with news that fees to rise by approximately 25%, in effect.
We had two kids in four days per week, plus one availing of ECCE on the fifth day, the eldest.
Now, the crèche is saying they will only take the under-1 five and not four days a week as is, and fees for him to rise by 200 euro a month, plus the extra day.
Also, the eldest has to go in either five full or five half days, but not four full days as is. So in effect five full days.
A back of the envelope calculation means its going to rocket to 2,000 a month, from 1,500.
One of us will likely have to take parental leave or unpaid leave for 6 months or so to get us over the hump if we can’t stump up.
We are Dublin based, and crèche fees likely not much lower elsewhere, and availability not great.
What are people doing in our shoes? Au Pair an option? How much would that cost by comparison?
In terms of a chid minder who’d mind two of them in our home etc, how much would that cost? One is due to start school in September, so the crèche thing was coming to an end for the eldest at least.
Just struggling for ideas on this, and presently trying to crunch financial numbers.
Thanks a mill!

Traveller2 there is a website called “mind me”, you can post an ad up. I have used “rollercoaster” previously.

We have previously used a minder in the minder’s house she charged €6 per hour full time. She minded a few kids so she wouldn’t drop to Montesorri etc.

My friend has just hired a minder in her house and is paying €12 per hour cash in hand. You are meant to register as an employer for this set up. I would be afraid if they had an accident in my house to do cash in hand! The minder in your house would work our better for you as you have two kids and the minder could bring the older one to Montesorri,

Best of luck.

cant26

angela1711 wrote: »

Don’t be fooled. I don’t know a single childminder that would pay their taxes. 15e an hour ?? It’s a pure joke to be paying someone this kind of money for minding your child. They usually have jobseekers or other social welfare payment on top of whatever you are paying them. Where I live, the going rate for a childminder is 4-7e an hour and the crèche is 4-5e an hour.

I don’t know a single person who would use a child minder who was on social welfare. Just because it happens in the circles you move in doesn’t make it standard.
I would be horrified at the thoughts of leaving my kids with someone possibly claiming social welfare fraud.
My childminder pays her taxes and she minds in her own home. She is more expensive than most crèches in our area but the peace of mind we have and our kids happiness is worth it and it’s not going to be forever.

fits

Don’t forget that Childminder’s can earn up to €15k per year without a tax liability before you say they don’t pay their taxes.

http://www.childcareonline.ie/index.php/childminders/childminder-supports/childminders-tax-relief-scheme

shesty

I also used schooldays.ie.I found it good, we found our minder there.She has been with us over 5 years now and I couldn't do it without her.She minds in her own home.

rainbow kirby

theteal wrote: »

It's felt like a long time coming but now that she's 3, the free childcare has kicked in (UK). 30 hours. We were paying for 20 hours @ £4.75ph which was a steal in itself. We're now ditching her for an extra day. If feels like a payrise!

We're full time - our nursery pro-ratas 30 hours for 38 weeks over 50 hours for 51 weeks. Doesn't feel quite so good, but everything helps!

theteal

rainbow kirby wrote: »

We're full time - our nursery pro-ratas 30 hours for 38 weeks over 50 hours for 51 weeks. Doesn't feel quite so good, but everything helps!

Yup it helps a lot. It enables the wife to start doing an extra day in work in the next few weeks. Oh it's full payment for mid term breaks but they're happy for us to revert to our original 2 days for those periods.

Sorry to read about your change in circumstances above in the thread.

Toastytoes

€800 ( before the €80 subsidy) per month full time 5 days a week in crèche in Galway for our 20 month old.

Ciagil

I am pregnant with my first child and this whole childcare world is so new to me. Worried if I leave it too late I wont get somewhere. I wont be paying deposit until baby here, don't want to count my chickens as such but trying to get somewhat organised. I have checked with NCS and according to their website calculator we are entitled to €76 a week grant which is €3952 a year or €329.33 a month so would that be taken from the €793 (monthly fee from one of the creches I have contacted that I think I am happy with) leaving us at €463.67 a month? This is based on a full week for an under 1 yr old. Does this sound right? From looking at everyone's comments above it sounds like a lot less than what others are paying, obviously not complaining just worried I'm missing something, we are in Galway, a couple earning a combined €48,000 net salary so maybe it is just as we don't have large salaries?

ax530

Yes as the grant is dependant on salary
Good luck

cherryghost

You cant apply for NCS until your child is in the creche already though. Then you get a CHICK number to handover to the Creche who will process it on the Gov NCS system so they get the difference paid back into their accounts.

It's a complete pain in the hoop and many many hoops to jump through just to get to that stage.

kylith

Prices are crazy and definitively contributed to us leaving Dublin and moving to north Wexford. After crèche fees we would have been better off by €50 a month with me working so I gave up and we moved somewhere with housing in our budget. Now the baby is nearing 18mo and #2 is on the way we’re going to look at putting her in a couple of hours a week so hoping to find something not too expensive.

zapper55

Ciagil wrote: »

I am pregnant with my first child and this whole childcare world is so new to me. Worried if I leave it too late I wont get somewhere. I wont be paying deposit until baby here, don't want to count my chickens as such but trying to get somewhat organised.

I had the same fear but the hassle I've seen my friends go through looking for a creche as they left it til after the baby was born was enough to convince me. I put a deposit down when I was 6 weeks pregnant. I'm in Dublin so maybe spaces are harder to get but I'm all about reducing stress where possible.

case_sensitive

Dublin 18, Stepaside Giraffe, €1,090 per month after NCS discount of €80. It's 5 days a week, open 9 hours a day (8 to 17:00), there's no discount for attending fewer days; that went away before we started, in later summer 2020. Bank Holidays and Christmas closures are charged for too, which hurts. Ditto when the weather man shut down the country over some fallen leaves getting violently displaced this winter.

Should soon qualify for ECCE, which is 3 hours a day for 38 weeks a year, hoping it'll reduce the cost proportionally (25% by back-of-a-napkin maths).

Though looking at NCS, it seems that expires when she's 3, so we'll lose that discount later this year.

Anyone willing to post before and after costs as they qualified for ECCE? TIA.

salmocab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118541191#Comment_118541191

1028 a month don’t do ncs, with ecce 823 roughly. About 3 or 4 miles away from you.

elizunia87

I am a single mom now and after discount I pay 250€ a month. Creche costs 1200€, Dublin, full time.On the top of creche i pay nanny when he cant go to creche which is a pain.

taxdummy

I got quoted 1,565 last week for full time creche - the prices seem mental, but then there doesn't seem to be any other options - it was the first creche within a 6km radius that replied to me saying they had something - no where else was available in Dublin 1,5,7,9,11 - crazy.

SnowyMuckish

Slightly off topic but..

Something that’s cropped up for us recently….do you pay your childminder for sick weeks that you’ve took off work to mind your sick child……?

Did this recently, our child is always catching something for a few days here and there, we thought well they’re not minding our child, why should we pay for the week…..

Always amazing to our son, lovely people but who’s right?? It’s not a crèche! Under the table no taxes and they’re not happy…. Is it fair to have to pay for sick days?

Paddy1234

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005969#Comment_120005969

“Always amazing to our son, lovely people but who’s right??”

I would say just pay them the sick days and count yourself lucky that you have such a lovely childminder who looks after your children so well.

There’s no contract and no right or wrong. We always paid our childminder for the days the kids were sick and don’t regret it.

How would you feel if they decided to go to another family who did pay them for sick days?

blue note

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005969#Comment_120005969

We pay if our childminder is able to take our child. So if our child is sick we pay, if the minder is sick we don't. That seems fair to me. It's not her fault if our child gets sick, why should she be out of pocket?

SnowyMuckish

Thanks it’s good to get other people’s perspectives, I appreciate the feedback.

shesty

Yes.If she's available we pay.If she's not, we don't.

We have reached a stage now where she refuses to take the money for us being on a second week of hols at Christmas or similar, although I always offer it to her.She's so good, I would pay her anything to keep her though!But she takes my kids when sick and everything, I have only kept them at home when they have vomiting or covid really.

taxdummy

How do people find creche places?- I must have contacted about 25 and only 1 came back to me and that was by far the most expensive, but unfortunately it's a little too inconvenient for me, as would involve going into the heart of the city at rush hour every day which is not something I fancy doing, there isn't even parking outside the creche.

Are there many childminders offering to mind kids in their own homes? I've found a lot willing to come into homes of the kids but working at home all day means i don't really want someone else in the house all day as well. Feeling little helpless and stressed as need to get sorted before returning to work

salmocab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120016517#Comment_120016517

Crèche spots are very hard to get as there aren’t really enough spots and they are all struggling for staff.

a good childminder is a very difficult thing to find, as someone above alluded to once you have one that is working out you need to make sure you keep them. There’s a huge amount of luck in finding one that will accommodate your schedule and suits your kids/requirements.

Pudsey123

I would like to add my tuppence here. We engaged a childminder ( Kildare) as could not secure a creche place initially. The childminder charged 65 eur per day, 25 days annual leave + all public holidays. She minded 4 children in her home. All cash in hand at the start of every month. Monthly fee varied depending on no. of days in the month and at the hint of a sniffle, she called for us to pick up. We had to prepare all meals, snacks, provide nappies etc and generally paid 1,400 per month. Fast forward to starting full time in a creche - we are paying 420 per month (including ECCE scheme) with all meals provided, better opening hours and a very happy child who loves being with her peers. The childminder got us out of a bind but I found the arrangement very stressful in terms of cooking meals every night and having to take A/L and still pay childminder when her kids got sick or she got sick (covid for 2 weeks) and also having to use all my A/L to accommodate her 25 days annual leave per year. She took our deposit as payment for accrued annual leave, time in lieu and a fee of 100eur for a late pick up.

Anyone I have spoken to about childminders has agreed that it all goes sour in the end as they are a one woman show, zero flexibility and its all on their terms.

crisco10

Best we could do was get our 2 kids in different creches...

4 year old is in full time (open 0800 to 1800), after ECCE and NCS, it's €870 per month.

2 year old is in full time elsewhere (open 0730 to 1830), after NCS, it's €1050 per month.

With all the illness this winter though, it's been a struggle to get the kids in for full 5 day weeks, which you need to do to maintain NCS funding. If the 2 year old isn't in all week this week, his NCS funding will be halved so price will go up to €1150 or so.

tom1ie

Hi all just want to check prices with other parents in here.

We will be putting our young lad into crèche at the start of July- he’ll be 16 months old.

We have been quoted €1200- NCS (national childcare subsidy?) of €273= €927 per month. (we have been told by the crèche ncs is approx that amount but we haven’t applied yet as we need to confirm start date).

We are in south Dublin, but I thought childcare was supposed to be getting heavily subsidised to reduce costs to parents?

€927 is another mortgage.

The young lad is our third so I was hoping things had improved since we were last in need of a crèche four years ago

salmocab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467066#Comment_120467066

It sounds right, prices are going up so the subsidy is really just off setting that at the moment. It’s all too complicated for the providers and something is going to have to give.