How did you cope with daycare fees?

[Danielle]

Hi everyone...

Just wondering how everyone managed with daycare fees after having a baby and going back to work?

I am due to have my 2nd baby next week, and have just been thinking of going back to work afterwards, I have been offered a fantastic job - I used to work there for years a while before I had my 1st baby. I have since being staying home as a stay at home mum during my DD's first 3 years, and then we got pregnant again, and I am thinking this time after I heal after my operation and bubby is 6 weeks old, I would start work a few days a week.

Then I got to thinking would this really be worth it? Unless I was earning a rediculous ammount each week I do not see how we would be better off. My DH works full time not eaarning a great deal pretty normal pay of $660 a week, and I would probably be on much the same - so with 2 kids of daycare fees of $50 a day, thats around $500 a week, can anyone tell me why I should go back to work - is there really any point? Whya re working families left to try and cope with such rediculous ammounts in daycare fees? This is why I didnt go back to work with DD, I really want to now as I have been offered a promotion as well to go back.

Does anyone know anything of government payments or anything that can help out with daycare fees that I dont know about?

Any advice on this subject would be great... I just dont know how average earning and working families can work and make it worth while with the cost of daycare fees....

[myboysmumma]

Hi Danielle,

There is the childcare rebate - you pay part of the fees and gov fills gap.

You could look at the Centrelink website or call them about it and they should be able to give you info. I know it is income based, so different for everyone

Hope that helps

[myboysmumma]

Hi Danielle,

There is the childcare rebate - you pay part of the fees and gov fills gap.

You could look at the Centrelink website or call them about it and they should be able to give you info. I know it is income based, so different for everyone

Hope that helps

[Danielle]

thanks... I didnt think we would be entitled to it though being 2 full time working parents, I know we get the tax rebate at tax time or whatever, but we still need to have the money to pay each week, I am sooo worried about workin my clacker out as well as keeping up at home and all my pay going on daycare fees, If I felt like I was getting something for it It sure would keep me motivated, I sooo wanna go back to work!

Does the government give you an option at all now? As to if you want partial payment made week by week? or the whole lump sum rebated at tax time?

[canberramomma]

Research it really well first before making a commitment as we got into a WORLD of trouble with cc fees. We were paying $1,200 pf and didn't get any help as we were above the combined family threshold. This was when you had to claim your 30% rebate two years after you paid your fees, though, so things have probably changed.

[Pandora]

Childcare Benefit is deducted form your fees or can be claimed ina lump sum at tax time. Its not called CCB though, there is some new name for it now.

Anyway we get the base rate that everyone can get regardless of income, which works out to about $7 a day - so Im paying $52 a day after I get the childcare benefit.

Then at the end of the year I claim the 30% rebate and get about $2400 back (DS is in care 3 days a week)

[Kitt3n]

Ha ha still trying to figure out how to cope with it!!

[sushee]

MY DH and I are both working and as a result only get the minimum amount, which is something like $6 a day off a $63 a day cost (ie total cost to us = $57 a day). So how do we manage child care fees? With much difficulty. I don't think we'd be able to afford the put 2 kids in childcare tbh.

[~Flossie~]

i have 2 kids in care 3 days a week. We only recieve the minimum that everybody can get regardless of income.. It is hard, yes we have to watch our pennies, however i am working for more than just my take home pay, i also look at the super i am getting that will help in the future aswell as other non financial benefits of my present job.

You just have to work out what is better for you .. check out the family assist website and you can calculate your details.

[myboysmumma]

I do believe there are 2 or 3 ways to recieve but fuzzy on the details

[Nai]

Now someone correct me if I am wrong here but I think that the rebate is going up to 50% soon with the new government. I know that my CC is $210 p/w for 3 days and I get $20 CCB so pay $190 p/w and we got over $2500 back at tax time. We also got back $1200 for family tax rebate.

Obviously this doesn't help while you have to pay it but it helps if you put it away to use throughout the year the following year.

I think there is a proposal to have that rebate done quarterly as opposed to annually to help families out but now sure when that is meant to be coming is or if it has even been passed.

[sushee]

As someone who has only just returned to work after long maternity leave, I have to say taxtime can't come around soon enough. But in the meantime, the $250 we're paying a week for CC at the moment is equivelant to the rent for a small house :P.

[Danielle]

Wow! It sounds so tough, if both my kids are in daycare 5 days a week I would only bring home between 100-200 for a 38 hour week - unless I worked heaps of overtime and daddy looked after them, but then Id get taxed on the extra I worked anyhow... gee they make it hard! And daddy already has to work overtime at the moment just to keep on top of mortgage repayments with interest rises, and we pay $1.50 Ltr for diesel and he travels 500kms a day for work and it comes out of our pocket, my oh my! Now I can see why more and more mums are staying home until their kids are in school, at least school comes cheaper!

[Amity]

I did some sums back when I was with XH. We had two in daycare. Cost was $75 per day (before CCB). XH earned about $45K per annum. I had to earn the equivalent of at least $80K per annum to make it "worthwhile" after losing the FTB Parts A & B, and taking into account travel to and from work.

I earned about $20 per day. However it was best for my career if I went back to work, and also to get away from XH (that's another story)...

So it's hard... but for me it was worthwhile.