|
Oh, tell me something that sadly, I didn't find out for myself the hard way, just like thousands of other parents.
This latest research from Aviva really struck a chord with me.
I remember having one child and returning to work part-time. I remember still being able to cover the cost of childcare AND the bills with a good deal of belt-tightening.
Then I remember having a second child. Nursery costs all but doubled and other outgoings remained the same or crept up. I remember slogging up and down on the train into London day in day out for the benefit of about £16 a week in my pocket.
Little wonder then that, like so many other parents, working after the second child in a conventional job just wasn't an option any more.
New parents think the financial sacrifices that have thrown their world upside down after the arrival of their firstborn will get easier as the child gets older. They think siblings are more cost effective because, after all, they've baby-proofed their house already and bought the kit and caboodle. But siblings are about more than baby kit and the strain (both financial and emotional) can be cumulative.
While writing Babynomics, I talked to many parents of two or more children about how they made ends meet and balanced everything. It was humbling and heart warming.
The reason that nearly half of the parents Aviva surveyed who gave up work after the birth of their second child then stayed off for five years is self-explanatory. The childcare bill reduces from all day to wrap-around care at that point, making work a feasible option once again.
Thank goodness that Child Benefit is still in existence. For many families - middle class ones as well as more financially needy families - Child bBenefit is what pays the food bill week in, week out. Freezing it has not been popular but better that than see widespread social upheaval and financial desperation bourne out of means-testing this unsung hero of the benefits system.
|
