Childcare costs

obi604

Hello.

We are in Galway county.

Have a 3 year old in her first year of ECCE and she gets 9-12 free. So no cost.

And then a 5 year old in junior infants. 9-13:30. Also free.

So no childcare costs. Mummy is a stay at home mummy. For now.

Any ballpark figure as to how much it would cost a week for childcare based on above situation.

jlm29

It varies wildly from county to county and town to town. If you’re in a commuter area, it’ll be far more than if you’re very rural. The easiest way to find out is to ring a crèche and get their prices

lashes34

I'm in Loughrea and paying 50 a day for 1 child in childminders house. Thats 10 hours.

dori_dormer

For a childminder in their house, usually €5 per hour per child. Depending on childminder that may or may not include food and sometimes there's a discount for second child. You also have to factor in fuel and pick ups , drop offs and if they are 'on call ' if you child happens to become sick when in school as you'll also need to pay them for those hours.

A nanny minds your children in your home and is therefore your employee and is subject to minimum wage, prsi etc

For creche you can ring around and get a quote easy enough.

Neyite

Do you mean if your wife returned to work?

So that would be a full time creche place less 15 hrs a week / or a creche or childminder who would pick both children up and hold onto them until 5 or 6.

Our local creche picks up from school at 2.15 until 6pm @ €12 per day. Not sure about full days cost yet, but in the old city-based creche we used during the summer it was €32 per day for holiday club. That creche in general had slightly more expensive fees than ones around but it was (IMO) better staffed, better run, better facilites so was happy to pay a few quid extra.

The younger one's fees would be more expensive as they are still in the age bracket of ratios. Then some creche's offer a discount for siblings attending.

Probably the best thing is to ring around or call in for their rates. But also check that they can do a pick up from that school. Some places don't pick up from certain schools especially in bigger areas.


I can't help you on the childminder front I'm afraid, never used them.

iamwhoiam

After school care in community centre here in south Dublin , picked up from school at 1:45 and given a lunch and looked after until 5:30 or 6pm is €24 for the afternoon .

obi604

Neyite wrote: »

Do you mean if your wife returned to work?

So that would be a full time creche place less 15 hrs a week / or a creche or childminder who would pick both children up and hold onto them until 5 or 6.

Our local creche picks up from school at 2.15 until 6pm @ €12 per day. Not sure about full days cost yet, but in the old city-based creche we used during the summer it was €32 per day for holiday club. That creche in general had slightly more expensive fees than ones around but it was (IMO) better staffed, better run, better facilites so was happy to pay a few quid extra.

The younger one's fees would be more expensive as they are still in the age bracket of ratios. Then some creche's offer a discount for siblings attending.

Probably the best thing is to ring around or call in for their rates. But also check that they can do a pick up from that school. Some places don't pick up from certain schools especially in bigger areas.


I can't help you on the childminder front I'm afraid, never used them.

Thanks all. Yeah so kinda this.

So ball park roughly 30 Euro a day for the 2 of them to be in creche until work was over.

So 600 or so a month.

Let’s say 8,000 Euro a year then roughly for this scenario.

That sound about right?

mirrorwall14

Really it’s how long is a piece of string (I was trying to figure this out myself). My local crèche will be 650 for before/after school care for junior infants and 900 for a one year old from January. A Childminder seems to be very much dependent on the minder themselves

dori_dormer

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks all. Yeah so kinda this.

So ball park roughly 30 Euro a day for the 2 of them to be in creche until work was over.

So 600 or so a month.

Let’s say 8,000 Euro a year then roughly for this scenario.

That sound about right?

you forgot to include mid term and summer holidays. Full time for 1 child is usually 600 + each a month

obi604

dori_dormer wrote: »

you forgot to include mid term and summer holidays. Full time for 1 child is usually 600 + each a month

Doh. Yeh. Good call.

So it’s probably something around 10,000 Euro a year then ball park.

Just seeing how much would need to be earned to make it all worthwhile.

10,000 means you have to earn at least 20,000 (again high level) to just pay the fees.


So realistically. One would want to be earning 35,000 plus to make it any way worthwhile.

Wesser

E5 an hour. Is that not less than minimal wage? Is that legal?

Moonbeam

yes, it is.
Once they are a childminder in their own home and they can earn up to 15k taxexemptand pay a fixed amount of PRSI.

jlm29

Wesser wrote: »

E5 an hour. Is that not less than minimal wage? Is that legal?

If it’s €5 per hour per child, it’s far more than the minimum wage. She could have six kids in her front room.

lashes34

obi604 wrote: »

10,000 means you have to earn at least 20,000 (again high level) to just pay the fees.

You can earn €16500 without paying income tax, €13000 without paying USC and over €18000 without paying PRSI so if you earn €20000, you will take home considerably more than half that.

obi604

lashes34 wrote: »

You can earn €16500 without paying income tax, €13000 without paying USC and over €18000 without paying PRSI so if you earn €20000, you will take home considerably more than half that.

True true.

I’m just trying to work out what one would need to earn to make it worthwhile going back to work.

detoxkid

I'm in county Galway. Ecce year full time costs around 500 per month but as others have said that's only for 9 months- it goes up significantly after that. After-school is something I'll be dealing with next year, but I've been quoted 10e an hour for an after-school in a school as opposed to a crèche. Way more expensive in a creche and again goes way up in summer.

ANXIOUS

You also need to take into account the non monetary benefits of going back to work for your wife.

lazygal

ANXIOUS wrote: »

You also need to take into account the non monetary benefits of going back to work for your wife.

This.
I see women, it's always women, face significant difficulty in getting back to the workforce after a gap out to stay at home. I worked just to stay in the workforce. Worth it now, given that I'm on paid maternity leave and have maintained my work skills and contacts. It's not solely a financial equation.

bee06

lazygal wrote: »

This.
I see women, it's always women, face significant difficulty in getting back to the workforce after a gap out to stay at home. I worked just to stay in the workforce. Worth it now, given that I'm on paid maternity leave and have maintained my work skills and contacts. It's not solely a financial equation.

Totally agree. Children don’t say children forever either. I saw it with my own mother who was left at a loose end when my youngest siblings were teenagers and being honest, they were overly reliant on her for life skills like cooking, washing etc.

Wildly Boaring

obi604 wrote: »

Doh. Yeh. Good call.

So it’s probably something around 10,000 Euro a year then ball park.

Just seeing how much would need to be earned to make it all worthwhile.

10,000 means you have to earn at least 20,000 (again high level) to just pay the fees.


So realistically. One would want to be earning 35,000 plus to make it any way worthwhile.

Unfortunately if in any type commuter area you're still a little light.
Reckon 1000 to 1100 per month by 12 months.

Hopefully there is a childminder locally rather than full blown creche. That would get you down significantly. Overheads totally different

shesty

bee06 wrote: »

Totally agree. Children don’t say children forever either. I saw it with my own mother who was left at a loose end when my youngest siblings were teenagers and being honest, they were overly reliant on her for life skills like cooking, washing etc.

Ditto.
My eldest is now four, heading for big school next year.Even now she doesn't need me there the whole time.I've stayed in work, and to be honest, unless you are really struggling to pay bills I wouldn't count it as a purely monetary equation.It doesn't last forever (those costs) and as kids get bigger, they don't need your around 24/7.Just be careful of viewing it as just numbers.
I know of one 7 year old who enjoyed her one day in after-school a week so much she told her mum to go get a job so she could go there everyday!!!!They don't even appreciate you after a certain point!

cant26

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

Unfortunately if in any type commuter area you're still a little light.
Reckon 1000 to 1100 per month by 12 months.

Hopefully there is a childminder locally rather than full blown creche. That would get you down significantly. Overheads totally different

Not always the case. I’m based in Galway city and the crèche we were using was cheaper than the Childminder we moved to. We pay €225 per week for our youngest full time. When we left the crèche last year it was €175 per week full time, which was to be reduced by €20 per week due to some scheme that the childminder is not part of.

I'm shocked €5 an hour, that's crazy. How could anyone survive on that.

bee06

Sunnyspot wrote: »

I'm shocked €5 an hour, that's crazy. How could anyone survive on that.

If you’re minding 5 kids that’s 25 Euro an hour.

But five times the work? A creche wouldn't legally be able to have that minder to baby ratio.

lazygal

Sunnyspot wrote: »

But five times the work? A creche wouldn't legally be able to have that minder to baby ratio.

Any minder I know has a mix. Like a one year old with siblings in school so they don't mind a second baby, or days where they have fewer children.

Neyite

Sunnyspot wrote: »

I'm shocked €5 an hour, that's crazy. How could anyone survive on that.

5 per child per hour.

Say you have two pre-school mindees. That's 10 quid an hour. If they are dropped off at 8am and picked up at 5pm, that's €90 per day into your hand or €450 per week. That's not bad. And it's tax free up to €15k and if the spouse is jointly assessed, the tax free allowances transfer and it reduces their taxable income and therefore their tax.

Plus you get to spend a lot more time with your own children than you would out working full time. You can slot in dental appointments and be there to help with homework, etc.

My experience would be from the creche world but think that at a minimum childminders should get the minimum wage. I'm sure they are struggling too. As parents we struggle with fees it's just that this is then passed on to struggling childminders who in my opinion have one of the most important jobs, minding our kids.

frogstar

Sunnyspot wrote: »

I'm shocked €5 an hour, that's crazy. How could anyone survive on that.

Also some mums will mind a child for extra cash. Not as a full time job. They might already have children the same age and its a handy number and tax free pretty much

Millem

Sunnyspot wrote: »

But five times the work? A creche wouldn't legally be able to have that minder to baby ratio.

There are regulations on how many of a certain age a childminder can have. My older boy’s montessori teacher/minder is registered with tulsa.....she can have 6 preschoolers. That’s €30 an hour. My younger boy will be going to her next year when he is two (he will be too young for ecce) I will pay €5 per hour but the universal childcare subsidy will be get deducted.

Just to throw it out there an sna on an hourly rate in school gets less than €14 per hour gross.

In a creche the ratio is 1:5 (1-2 yrs) or 1:6 (2-3 yrs).

Guess that's the issue, they take on extra kids cause they can't survive on €5 an hour per child. There is a huge turn around in this industry as the rate of pay is often not sustainable. So people move to other type of roles in the hope of being better paid. Some carers are well taken care of by what are essentially their employers.....others not so.