Working and chld care - is it worth it?

I don't know if this is the correct place for this thread so feel free to move it if needed...

I am a full-time SAHM for the last 2 years. DH brings in all the cash and we have the odd "it's my money" fight. I worked for ten years before giving up to look after my kids. My oldest DD is in Kindy and will be in PP full-time next year. My youngest is 15 months. I receive Family Tax A & B. I was thinking of going to work next year when DD2 is 2 years and putting her into FDC or the like. Only 2 - 3 days a week. To give me some interaction with other adults and also to have some of my own money. I guess what I'm asking is - is it worth it to go to work for 2/3 days a week when I will be losing the centerlink money and paying for FDC. What are your experiences? I will not do anything that earns a hell of a lot of money. I worked in retail for 10 years as a Business Manager but can't do that part-time.

For me having DD in FDC while I worked 4 days worked out well. We were about $200 a week better off (after fees) but will have to reassess this when it comes time to going back to work after number 2.

HTH

You possibly wont lose all your FTB money, but it will be reduced and you should also be able to get CCB.

I work full-time and DD goes to FDC. I recently took a promotion so our CCB decresed which ended up in the amount of extra daycare fees we have to pay being far greater than the amount of my payrise. Not quite the same situation as you I know, but I guess you don't really know if it will be worth it unless you do it.

its hard to tell you because everyones circumstances are so different.

If you call c'link and ask them, they'll be able to tell you exactly how much ftb you'll recieve based on the income you'll recieve and your partners income.

Obviously working will make you better off and FDC is roughly about $5 per hour. So if your hourly rate is going to be only $5 or $10 per hour, it probably wont be worth the effort iykwim. Take your CCB into account and you could only be paying $3 per hour for fdc.

I work 15hours pwk and have my little one in fdc for a total of 18hrs pw and i pay $77 per week. ( i get 30% back from ccb) So my income does make us better off for sure.

I have set myself up a spreadsheet and use the online estimator for FTB, along with the ATO tax calculator to work out different scenarios. Don't forget to add in other costs of working, like petrol, parking, haircuts (I need more when working), work clothes, the odd work lunch etc.

With some jobs I have looked at, it has not been worth it all, whilst there was extra money coming in it was not enough to cover the amount of hours I had to work. There seems to be a range of hours where you work more, but not get more money over all.

Remember too when you are working, you will get 50% of your out of pocket child care fees back each quater- I find when I consider that it always makes the scenario better.

I have figured out that next year when I have had #3 it is only worth my while returning to work 2 days a week rather than the 3 days I am working now- especially as my pay goes up I pay more tax, my HECS fees and more daycare fees. I am in the lucky position on being a teacher and being able to do a couple of extra days each term to top up my income without having work extra days every week.

it really depends on your situation, if you can work out how much you would be earning, you can calculate your FTB entitlements & CCB.

we found that going to daycare/ kindy for afew days aweek benifited both the child and me.
It meant I had interaction with adults and something ourside the house to talk about. I was finacially able to add (not much but something) to the household and the socialisation benifted the child.
It took DS1 awhile to adjust but hes a sensitive kid and was younger then yours when we put him in but once he did adjust it was great to see him blossom and interesting to see what he learnt. Also that excited "MUMMY!" when you pick them up is a really nice feeling :lol:

The work or stay at home debate is a hard one. I think we could use the extra money, but I'm concerned about the impact of child care on my little ones, and feel that before a certain age it's perhaps not the best idea to be away from their home environment and the one-on-one attention from their mum or dad.
Is such a tricky one, as I can also see the benefits for mum and child (socialisation, change of scene and focus) with child care.