💬 'I'd rather have my child start school fearing she’s too young rather than pay a whole extra year of childcare' The parents of children born in September and October warn of the 'childcare birthday lottery', which can bring serious financial struggles
“Childcare costs are just obscene,” says Kirsty. “To make it worse, parents like us with September babies are penalised simply because of the date their child was born.
“My mum is a primary school headteacher and has always told me how children with summer birthdays tend to struggle more than those who are older in the year,” Sarah tells“It’s widely accepted in the teaching profession that children who are older in the year tend to find certainly primary school a little bit easier academically and also socially and emotionally.
“The nursery fees for Arthur alone are over £15,000 a year, so him being born one week later than he could have been has hit us hard financially.” Sarah says in an ideal world, she’d love to have a third child, but “that’s absolutely not possible” until Arthur starts school. “Just one week difference in when he was born has a knock-on ripple effect on everything, such as our timing for our family plans.”
“I’d like to see more of a rolling start for children for school. Instead of being the September after they turn four, it should be done in quarters or half-years so the time delay isn’t as great.” Rebecca Toma would have ideally liked a smaller age gap of around 18 months between her two children.
Instead, her partner, a welder, works all the hours he can to keep the family afloat. “To make ends meet, Marcus works 12-hour days Monday to Friday and if he’s offered a 12-hour shift on a Saturday or Sunday, he’ll take it as we need the extra money. About a month ago, he worked a 24-hour shift welding.
“We’re screwed from every angle,” says Chelsea, who works part-time in facilities. “It is scandalous that we have to pay an extra year in childcare for Rowan compared to parents of some of his friends who are only a few weeks older than him. I can’t get my head around how a few weeks makes such a difference.
“Only, once their child turns three, they discover the 30 hours ‘free’ isn’t free at all because providers have to charge for food and nappies to make up the shortfall in funding offered by the Government and the benefit only works during term time.
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