5 Ways to avoid high childcare costs

1. Shift Work

 If you and your partner are able to find jobs that have shift work then you may be able to work your shifts around each other to minimise the amount of childcare you will need.

2. Try and job share with a friend or family member

You may find that your friends or family are in a similar situation to you, so you may be able to buddy up with another family and share the childcare between you. For example, you may work on a Monday and Tuesday and your friend may work on a Thursday or Friday. If this is the case you may be able to look after each other’s children while each of you work.

3. Find jobs where you can work from home

After Covid, companies are much better set up for people to work from home. You may have a job where you don’t need to work during the regular 9-5 hours, so you can fit your normal 8 hour working day around nap times or working in the evenings.

4. Tax free childcare

Tax-Free Childcare is a financial support for working families with children up to the age of 11, or 16 if their child has a disability. The government top up can be used to pay for any approved childcare including holiday clubs, breakfast and after school clubs, child minders and nurseries. You can check if you are eligible for Tax free childcare here.

5. Ask grandparents to help

If you are lucky enough to have grandparents who live nearby and aren’t working full time you may be able to ask them if they could help with some of the childcare.