At what point is it not worthwhile to work fulltime & pay childcare?

annR said:
There must be thousands of women in the same situation.

...

Wouldn't it be great if there was some kind of network to help women with families find more family friendly jobs
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Er - it's not just women who are affected by work/life balance, child care/rearing, Parental Leave issues etc. :-|
 
I know and I thought of it while I was writing that . . .however I think the numbers of women in this situation would be more. It doesn't make any difference. There should be some way of finding these positions to be able to plan for the future.
 
I work a 4 day week, currently- I find it fantastic. The working week flies- like a lot of jobs, I end up doing the same work in less time but I love being very busy. I think my work has improved, I am more focused, have more energy. A day off a week gives me time to reboot, reflect and often I come up with ideas on my day off that I'm not sure otherwise I would have.

I'm not sure that with a 1 year old and a 3 year old you'd get much done on your day off if they are not with the childminder though! But mine are at school now so I get a morning to myself, once a week when I get loads done. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, hair dressers, I did the couch to 5k running programme which I otherwise would not have done, gym, doctors appts, I do some writing, sorting out the bills, things I would otherwise find it hard to fit into the week. It also means weekends are less frantic and the whole family is more relaxed.

I'd highly recommend it on a personal front. The only drawback is that if you work a 4 day week I assume your holidays will also be cut- so bear this in mind before you make the decision.
 
Vanilla said:
The only drawback is that if you work a 4 day week I assume your holidays will also be cut- so bear this in mind before you make the decision.
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Not under the Parental Leave scheme anyway. I'm currently weighing up possibility and the pros and cons of taking one day a week Parental Leave plus some more for school holidays.
 
This is modern living, when my kids were young mothers did not go to work, it’s a pity that both parents need to go to work to make ends meet. You could do away with a lot of materialism, ie that big TV, Xbox, Ipads, smart phones etc. new car, and give the kids the attention they need.
 

Even if you get rid of all luxuries, sometimes the mortgage takes two wages. That is the era we've just lived through.
 


Jaysus.

Judgmental, much?
 
Unfortunately my earnings just pays for the shopping. We have one television. We have two cars, one is 7 yrs old, one is 11 yrs old. We haven't had a holiday since having children. I know the childcare eats up most of my salary. I have a government job, pays 26K gross. I am afraid that if I give up this, I may not get another job. I take home 400 euro a week. After childcare, petrol and parking, I have just over 100 euro a week.

Childrens allowance goes on clothes and if we need a doctor.

I wonder what would happen if I did not work. How would we get money to pay for groceries??? Perhaps Roker would like to reply and tell me this....
 
If you reduce your hours to a 4 day week your salary will be reduced by approx. 1/5 so you would be down €80 per week rather than €20.
 
If I were you I would definitely take the 4 day week. I know 20 euro a week is a lot with your current expenses but if you can afford it, it would be well worth it. I am in a similar situation and I find it very stressful just because I know the kids won't be babies forever and would really enjoy being at home with them more. So go for it, I would say, once you can pay the main bills, the rest will work itself out. You wont be able to get the time back but you will be able to get the money back in the furture.
 
mts, you are not taking into consideration that the OP will have reduced childcare costs, reduced travel costs and will pay less tax so her take home pay won't reduce by €80.00....
 
Roker, I don't smoke at all. I don't really drink. I would have one glass of wine on special occasions. We don't go out socialising since having children. My mother and sister would bring me to an early bird dinner for my birthday.

I have exzema and a touch of asthma. I need to use special creams for the exzema and have a bath every two days. These creams are prescription only so I need to go to a doctor to get them. The creams come in small tubes and the doctor will only prescribe one or two so I have to go to him and show him my rash, in order to get the creams. This costs 55 Euro per go, and another 30 euro for the creams. I have an allergy to wheat and I am sensitive to sugar and dairy. I need to eat a really healthy diet for my skin, lots of fruit and veg, no sweet things, no processed foods. This sometimes can cost more than having convenience foods. I take fish oils and supplements for my skin. I try to look out for offers on these.

When I am stressed my skin gets aggravated. Work can be stressful as there are less staff. Also getting toddlers to childminder in the mornings and packing all my food for the day can be stressful. I found that when I was on maternity leave I didn't have to take half the supplements and didn't have to use as many creams on my skin.

Regarding clothes shopping, I can only wear cotton, as a lot of fabrics aggavate my skin. I usually travel to M&S twice a year to get reasonably priced clothes which look respectable for work and won't aggravate my skin.

In fact my hair is beginning to go grey and highlighting costs a fortune. I will probably just leave it go grey. I can't colour as my scalp has some exzema. It is not nice to just let hair go grey at 40 as everyone else is able to keep their hair coloured/highlighted.

Happy now, ? Roker
 
Sorry to hear of your problems, obviously my comments do not apply to you, I hope that you find a way out.
 
buzybee said:
These creams are prescription only so I need to go to a doctor to get them.
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Have you checked whether your family qualify for GP Visit cards and Family Income Supplement?
buzybee said:
I questioned whether the five days is too much, with two young children, when I am only getting 20 Euro for the fifth day. Also, the fifth day could make the working week very tiring, trying to fit in housework, shopping etc.
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If it were me then I would do it if it was financially doable.

Although (and I know you didn't ask this), if it were me I'd crunch the numbers to see if staying at home was doable as you are working for a small net financial gain. From the numbers you provide I'm thinking that you use your own tax credits. If that is so and if you were to give up work (or take a career break to try it) and transfer your credits to your husband, his take home would increase by about €50 per week . . so you'd have to find about €50 in weekly savings (or do some child minding yourself) to bridge the gap.
 
I am in a similar situation. Trying to figure out whats the best way to go.

I have 1 toddler and 1 baby on the way. I also have another school going child.

My maternity leave will finish end of August and am not sure if going back to work is worth it.

I have checked creche prices approx 1100 for the baby + 1100 for the toddler and another 500 for the afterschool care. In total 2700 and my take home pay is only 2450 ! Ofcourse its a no brainer to leave work but like so many others, I do not want to leave a reasonably well paid job in current climate. 1 creche fee will half in couple of years time when the toddler will be in school plus I think it will be reduced by little more even before when the toddler qualifies for ECCE scheme.

I am looking for some options/ideas as to what might be best way to do this.

I want kids to be minded in a "group" and I do not want an "au pair" or "nanny at home" situation.
Ideally I would like the kids to be minded in the same place but its hard to find a small playgroup who can mind the baby, the toddler and also do collections for after school pick-ups Mon-Fri . Any suggestions ?
 
In the creche I use, the toddler is cheaper than the baby, also you should get a sibling discount. Small change however in the scheme of things. Would you consider a childminder situation for the older child to pick them up from school and mind them in their/your home? Although I've no experience of after school care, I don't really like the idea. I think money spent in the creche is better value for full time care where they take responsiblity for over all care, whereas after school care is really just supervising them doing their homework. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. For that reason I hope to have a childminder collect my child from school and take her home and mind her.
 
Yes I agree...afterschool is just supervision and my child atleast 3 activities a week which means he is in school until 3:30 for 3 afternoons and I should get home from work around 5pm leaving only approximately 1:30 hours for minding but the crrche is insisting on charging the full amount for the afternoon ...it seems unfair but I suppose they are running a business! Perhaps I should re-consider my options and think of dropping them to a minders house. Probably still expensive. Need to research this option too
 
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