Hi mums,
I am going back to work very soon, I have 3 school aged kids. I wanted to go back to work when they were much younger but the childcare costs were just too expensive for 3 littlies (even with the rebates etc).
Anyhoo, now I'm faced with the issue of school holidays and before and after school care.
Our school has an after/before school care program, however it's booked out until next year. It's $50 per day per child but they do have the centrelink rebate but no one has been able to give me an idea how much out of pocket I'll be paying. How do I find out?
Then there's school holidays. We have a vacation care program near by but they charge $72 a day per child (no rebate).
In fairness they do feed them and take them on fun excursions like the cinemas, zoo, laser tag etc but it's still $200 a day (for my 3) so it's really not a viable long term option.
I know there's annual leave as well but I'll likely only be casual at this point, part time if I'm lucky so I won't have enough annual leave to cover much. My partner is a supervisor is the hospitality industry, so it's really hard for him to be approved for leave during school holidays (especially the big summer holidays when we'd most need it) because that's their busiest time.
We have no family support, on either side that would be willing or trustworthy enough to help us out. I've considered a babysitter but even the local teenagers charge an arm and a leg 😂 and neither of us are really comfortable with having someone unqualified looking after our kids for lengthy periods of time.
I can't not go back to work because we need the income.
I just don't know how to make it work here and it's stressing me the eff out!
Please help!
(Please no judgy unhelpful comments, i really dont need it at this point).
8 Replies
You really have to decide whether it’s worth you working. If you will be no better off financially then what’s the point.
I really do have to work, we just can't live on one income and the very small amount that I do get from centrelink. I have also been put on newstart since my youngest is school aged now so I've spent all year training in my desired feild.
Me working will definitely have us much better off, it's mainly managing the school holidays that is the killer!
Its really not that expensive. An expense, yes, but much better off than not working.
After school care is like $7, vacation care is under $20 for a day. Family day care is even cheaper. Holiday care I just paid $15 per day and it included their outings.
Like I said, there's only one vacation care in my area and they name their price! $72 × 3 with out any kind of subsidisation or rebate is just not an expense we can afford regularly! And I understand the before and after school care will be more affordable, I'm just struggling to find out how much exactly I'm going to be paying.
I mean, if I was looking at the kind of fees you're paying it wouldn't be an issue.
Check it out and find out exactly how much you will be paying, they should be able to tell you.
With 3 kids you may be better off finding a nanny/sitter because their per hour / week rate will be lower and they can be at home getting homework and dinner done.
Keep looking. It's hard and scary trying to organise it at first, but possible and definitely worth it. The big figures you hear about can scare you off though but as I said, those are more realistic figures people actually pay and thats how we manage to do it.
Oh wow! Your school care and vacation care is super cheap!! Our vacation care is $100 per child, per day, plus outing expenses (movie ticket, bus transport, etc). I wish it was that cheap everywhere!! :-)
I also have 3 kids and was in the same boat as you. No family to help out, and vacation care costing upwards of $100 a day, per kid! 😩 And, ironically it's a pupil free day today, but not a public holiday. I looked at night time / weekend work (waitress / bar / tab) and ended up getting a nightfill job in a supermarket. It isn't the most glamourous job, the hours are late, and nothing related to my uni degree that I'm still paying off 🤦♀️ But, it works for my family. I'm just a little sleep deprived in the meantime and living on coffee!! Good luck mumma xx
You should always get a rebate for vacation care. I would be looking into that. Our vacation care is $90 per day that’s with excursions and we get a rebate it’s only $30/ day after that. All licensed child care facilities should be giving rebate.