One in twenty families will spend over £500 in child care over the summer holidays.
Figures from Hargreaves Lansdown have found that 60% of children have working parents. Over the summer holidays the average price of childcare is £250.70, but for one in twenty families spend over £500.
When you subtract two weeks off work from six weeks of summer holidays, you get four weeks of stress and on average a £250 childcare bill Sarah Coles personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said. But there are a few things you could do to cut the cost of the break. You can cut the cost of your child care bill by taking advantage of flexible working options or shaving the tax off your childcare bill.
She gave some tips so that could save you cash on some of your childcare costs.
Book early
Book now the sooner you get yourself sorted before the holidays the better. Check for government discounts, if you have signed up for childcare vouchers or tax-free child care payments you can get tax relief on the cost of childcare. Also as long as the provider is registered with Offstead you can cut your bills by a fifth more. You could request flexible working you have a legal right to request this.
If your employer is flexible it could help enormously. Do a child care relay talk to the parents of your children’s friends and you could set up a system that gives you two or three days of childcare for one day’s annual leave. Ask other families what they do, and ask at school they may run affordable holiday clubs or know other local schools with something to offer. Always look for sibling discounts. Maybe you can make it someone else’s job if you could work from home or work flexible hours so that you only need someone for a few hours a day. There are plenty of au pairs looking for summer holiday placements for the cost of room and board plus around £75 a week. This could be cost effective if you have several children.
Failing all that rope the grandparents in to help you out with childcare.
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