The summer holidays are nearly upon us, and if you’re a healthcare worker with young children, you might be feeling stressed about funding childcare while school’s out.
In short, it’s expensive: in 2023, British families paid £943 on average for six weeks’ summer holiday childcare cover.
With costs still on the rise, you might choose to save money by staying at home or reducing your hours over the summer. But is that the only way?
Here, we hear more about the struggle from Florence care assistant Emma, and explore summer childcare options you can use to save cash and stay at work.
Juggling work and childcare
Emma, a healthcare assistant with seven years’ experience, has worked with Florence for two years. She and her partner Keith (who also works for Florence!) have three children under ten, and she loves working in care.
“I don’t know what else I’d do if I didn’t work in care,” she says. “If I can make the residents laugh, or make their day a bit happier, then it’s a good day.”
But like so many other working parents, Emma worries about finding childcare over the summer holidays.
“It’s too expensive to put our two-year-old into nursery and the older kids into summer camps – you’d be working for nothing,” she explains.
She’s not the only one: nearly 62% of parents worry about the cost of summer childcare. Here’s how to cut childcare costs (and stress).
5 ways to save on summer childcare
1. Tax-free childcare
HMRC offers Tax-Free Childcare of up to £2000 a year, available for children up to 11.
Not only can you use this for paying for nursery, but you can also use the money you get to pay for holiday clubs, before or after-school clubs, childminders, nurseries and other approved childcare schemes.
Tip! Make sure you ask the childcare provider if they allow tax-free childcare payments–they might not publicise this directly.
You can find out if you’re eligible for Tax-Free childcare here.
3. Summer camps
From sports to theatre to crafts, you’ll find a variety of camps and clubs in your area, and these can provide cost-effective childcare cover. They can be a week, individual days or just a few hours a day. On average, they cost around £30 a day–but there can be cheaper local options if you keep a lookout.
Check out local organisations in your area to learn about summer clubs and see if any of them are a fit. Make sure you plan in advance because spaces can fill up quickly.
Tip! Look out for schemes run by local sports clubs or councils – these are often the most cost-effective, compared to private providers. “Our local football club provide a very reasonably priced club that not only does my son love, but it allows me to continue to work and get an income.”
Mary K, Support Worker
2. Family and friends
Naturally, family can be the most affordable short-term solution if they’re open to providing childcare. If that’s not an option open to you, another option to explore is to speak to close friends and other parents about sharing care. If your children have friends with parents in similar situations, you could decide to look after each other’s children and share care on a rota basis.
4. Share a nanny
On average, nannies charge £14 per hour depending on where you live. Something you might not have considered exploring is sharing a nanny with friends as a way to share costs. Plus, your children will have their friends to play with – win-win!
You can reach out to nannies through websites like childcare.co.uk, korukids.co.uk or search Facebook for local nanny groups.
5. Work with Florence
Emma says working with Florence has been a huge help when making childcare arrangements.
“With Florence, we can work around each other, which is good,” she says. “We check to make sure our shifts don’t overlap, and book them using the Florence app.”
The flexible shifts Emma and Keith pick up with Florence make it much easier for them to take care of their children. They can rotate working days and nights to make sure someone’s always home.
“Depending on what shifts we can pick up, one of us will do the day shift and one will do the night shift,” she says.
Do what you love, without the stress
Thinking outside the box can solve summer childcare problems and—if you play your cards right—even make it fun for the kids. Flexible shifts, like the ones you can find working with Florence, make scheduling clubs, camps, and childminders that much easier.
Florence can help you find flexible shifts near you, take essential training courses and improve your work-life balance. Find out more and sign up today.
