childminders

[lozzylou]

hi i am just wondering what people pay for there childminders. i have been asked to have my niece who is 6 months old while her mom goes back to work. they have agreed to pay me, just for some bit of extra cash for me. they said they would pay me the going rate at the moment but i dont want to accept that so i was going to see what people pay and charge them half of that amount

[redcrx]

i dont know about childminders but i can tell you i pay �16 for a 5 hour session at a nusery / creche for my 3 year old.

I think babies are �20 for same session, so about �4 an hour.

[lozzylou]

thanks red. i will be having her 3 full days a week. what would you charge someone that you knew? i have no idea what to say. she will be dropped off at 7 45 and picked up at around 6 pm. they will provide her food and things

[redcrx]

see thats something that i could never do, call me selfish but:
what if you want a week off, a holiday? a day out with your children? a day off sick?
what if your own children are poorly?
will you be insured, should anything happen and the child hurt themselves would the parents blame you (look at those parents who got sued because a child hurt themselves on a bouncy castle they had)
what if the childs poorly, will they expect you to look after him / her?
Thats also a long day for a 6 month old. Will they have a place to sleep for naps? will your children mind having to watch where they leave toys.

I know that as parents we are very careful around our own xhildren anyway, but the responsibility for another persons child is a lot to take on board.

sorry, im just polaying devils advocate here and reminding you of all the things youll have to consider, you may have already done so.

so youre looking at 10 hours x �4 an hour = �40 a day.

�120 a week

depends on what you want to ask them, but be careful of taking cash for services and not declaring it. If you are going to declare it then bare in mind what benefits you may lose out on and make sure youre not losing out finacially just to help them out.

[bednobs]

also, if you are taking money to look after a child (even tho its a relative), i believe you ave to register as a child minder

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree with red and bedknobs. Best to register yourself as a childminder in case anything goes wrong, and over a certain amount, you'd be liable to pay tax on it.
Childminding fees vary anyway, depending on whether you'd be expected to supply meals (probably not in your case).

[Buenchico]

As others have indicated, anyone looking after a child under 8 years old (for more than 2 hours per day) is required by law to register as a childminder. (There is an exemption when the child remains in their own home, which is classed as 'babysitting' rather than 'childminding'. There's another exemption for 'occasional' activities, such as when a child has their friends visit for a sleepover, but neither of these exemptions apply to you).

There are probably thousands of 'family arrangements' (such as the one you're planning to get involved with) where the rules are ignored and 'social services' wouldn't want to get involved unless they were aware of a specific problem about the arrangement. Because it's 'within the family', it's probably extremely unlikely that 'officialdom' would either know about your arrangement or be concerned about it. However, you should know that, unless you register as a childminder, you'll be breaking the law.

If you do decide to register as a childminder, you need to be aware that you'll have to pay a registration fee (including the costs of the criminal records check) and show that you've complied withthe training requirement (e.g. in relation to first aid skills). Your house will also be inspected to ensure that it meets the safety requirements.

Having got that out of the way, I suppose that you'd like an answer to your question!
http://www.ncma.org.uk/MainWebSite/ContentPage 9df2c089.aspx?Map=A0612B45B52E53CB05FF6A5FDBB1 6FB5

Chris

[Ice.Maiden]

Suppose it's a bit better than farming a young child out to an all-day nursery. The fees can be astronomical, so I assume that the parents must have a very good job that allows them to fork out and still be well in pocket at the end of each week/month.

[lozzylou]

my brother in law has a good job earnind something silly like 40000 a year so its not that they cannot afford a nursery. they just want to leave her with someone they know. my boys are at nursery and pre school in the afternoons so she will have some one to one attention too. we have already spoke about the law and they are putting the money into a new bank account in there name which i will have total control of. so they will be no handing over of cash so to speak. so in the eyes of the law i am looking after her for free. i know it is illegal but it could be worse, i could be claiming as a single parent and claiming housing benefit, income support and so on even though i have a partner like a lot of people do. this way it is just a bit of extra cash while helping family out x

[elginred]

Right, hope I can help answer your question.

Between 8am and 6pm I pay �3.50/hr, all hour out with this are unsociable, so the charge is �4.50/h.

For a 12hr days 7am-7pm we pay �44.

This is the cost of our childminder in the North of Scotland, we provide all meals, changing equipment and changes of clothes etc.

However, because it's a contract we also pay for our childminder to have 4 weeks annual leave a year, and if we go on holiday and do not require her, we have to pay her then too, and for any time he stays at home due to ill health.

We only do not pay if she cannot take him for scheduled hours due to her being ill etc.

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree that the child's better off with someone she knows, lozzylou, and I'm sure you'll have an enjoyable time with the baby. My comments weren't meant to be personal against anyone who uses childcare, but I was thinking to back to when ours went to nursery for just a couple of mornings a week. This was to get them used to being with other toddlers, but some parents left their very young babies there all day, and knowing the cost of it, I still can't understand why, with earning enough money to pay for this facility, these women prefer to go out to work when they could afford to stay at home and bring up their children themselves. Having said that, your niece is in good hands, and it'll also give you a bit of extra income. x

[natalie_1982]

My daughter is nearly 8months old and attends a day nursery, a full day costs �40.50 and this includes formula, nappies and food.

[Lore]

We pay �32.50 per child, per day and have to provide nappies, wipes and formula.

I know you've said there'll be no handing over of cash as such for it to be traced, but you must be careful. No matter how much you get on with your brother and how understanding they are, if (and I hope it never happens) there is any sort of accident or injury or worse still, any implications or allegations towards you from the child (later on) then you'll not have a leg to stand on and you could end up in a lot of trouble.

I really think you should get yourself registered.