Choosing a Childcare Provider

If you're choosing between two childcare providers, it can be difficult to work out how they compare from a costs point of view. Some charge hourly, or daily, while others have a fixed monthly cost. You may find a childcare provider that is cheaper, but doesn't accept tax free childcare. This childcare calculator can help you work out which one is the better deal.

 Any hours that you mark as "free" will assume no charge at all. For childcare providers that charge per session, day, week or month, add those to the fees at the side and the calculator will assume 21 working days per month and 4.3 weeks per month. In practice, many nurseries charge extra fees to ensure they can still stay in business. Add these to the daily/weekly/monthly fees to ensure you are accounting for the full costs.

15/30 hours are only available in term time. This calculator assumes that you will stretch those hours to 50 weeks to ensure your monthly bill is more stable. Childcare comparison can be very hard when their charging methods are very difficult, but this calculator makes the comparison much easier!