Childcare Cost Calculator
What childcare costs per year and per month, and how much of income it takes.
Childcare is one of the few costs that can decide whether a second income is worth earning. It is also quoted in whatever unit the provider prefers: an hourly rate, a daily rate, a weekly rate, or a monthly invoice that changes with the school holidays.
Enter the hours, the rate and the number of children, and this calculator gives the annual and monthly cost, the cost per working day, and the share of income it takes once any support is subtracted.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Children in care, Hours of care a week, Hourly rate, Weeks of care a year, Extras over a year, Support toward the cost, Annual income to compare with
- What you get
- Monthly cost after support, Annual cost after support, Share of income taken, Cost per working day, Income left after childcare
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Childcare Cost Calculator
- 1 Enter Children in care (children)
- 2 Enter Hours of care a week (hours) - Per child. A full working week is usually 40 to 50 hours.
- 3 Enter Hourly rate
- 4 Enter Weeks of care a year (weeks) - Term time only is about 39 weeks.
- 5 Enter Extras over a year - Registration, meals, supplies, trips, holiday cover. Per child.
- 6 Enter Support toward the cost (percent of the cost) - A sibling discount, a tax-free account or an employer scheme.
- 7 Enter Annual income to compare with - The income that pays for the care, which is often the second salary rather than the household total.
- 8 Press Calculate. You get Monthly cost after support, Annual cost after support, Share of income taken, Cost per working day, Income left after childcare, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 9 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
One child in full time nursery
Forty hours a week at 12 an hour for the full year, with 1,200 of extras.
You enter
- Children in care
- 1 children
- Hours of care a week
- 40 hours
- Hourly rate
- $12.00
- Weeks of care a year
- 52 weeks
- Extras over a year
- $1,200.00
- Support toward the cost
- 0%
- Annual income to compare with
- $60,000.00
You get
- Monthly cost after support
- $2,180.00
- Annual cost after support
- $26,160.00
- Share of income taken
- 43.6%
- Cost per working day
- $100.62
- Income left after childcare
- $33,840.00
The cost is 480 a week, or 26,160 a year and 2,180 a month, which is 100.62 for each working day of care. With no support that takes 43.6 percent of the 60,000 income and leaves 33,840 a year. Each hour of care costs 12.58 against the 12 an hour paid.
Two children in term time care with a sibling discount
Thirty nine weeks of the year, a lower hourly rate and 20 percent of support.
You enter
- Children in care
- 2 children
- Hours of care a week
- 45 hours
- Hourly rate
- $10.00
- Weeks of care a year
- 39 weeks
- Extras over a year
- $900.00
- Support toward the cost
- 20%
- Annual income to compare with
- $45,000.00
You get
- Monthly cost after support
- $2,460.00
- Annual cost after support
- $29,520.00
- Share of income taken
- 65.6%
- Cost per working day
- $151.38
- Income left after childcare
- $15,480.00
The cost before support is 36,900 a year, or 3,075 a month. Support of 7,380 brings it to 29,520 a year and 2,460 a month, which is 151.38 a working day and 65.6 percent of the 45,000 income. That leaves 15,480 a year, which is the figure the second salary has to beat.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I compare the cost with one salary or the household income?
With the salary that would be given up, because that is the income the decision is about. Comparing it with the household total makes almost any cost look affordable and hides the case where a second salary barely covers the care it pays for.
The two figures are both useful: the household share shows how much of the budget is committed, and the second salary comparison shows whether the arrangement is worth continuing.
What are the extras that belong in the annual figure?
Registration and deposit, meals and snacks where they are charged separately, nappies and formula for babies, sun cream and spare clothes, trips and activities, and the holiday cover that a term time rate does not include. Late collection fees belong there too if they happen regularly.
These are the costs that turn a quoted hourly rate into a monthly invoice. Fifteen hundred a year of extras on a 12 an hour rate is more than two weeks of care.
How does support usually arrive?
Three ways, and they are not exclusive: a sibling discount from the provider, a government scheme that pays a share of the cost up to a limit, and an employer scheme that lets part of the salary be paid into a childcare account before tax. Each one is entered here as a percentage of the total.
The limits matter. Most support schemes cap the amount they help with, so a high percentage on a high cost is rarely the real outcome, and the cap belongs in the calculation by lowering the percentage until the result matches what you actually receive.
Is childcare cheaper when children are older?
It usually is, for two reasons: the adult to child ratio a provider has to maintain improves with age, and school removes most of the hours from the calculation. After school care and holiday clubs still cost money, but far less than a full day of nursery.
That is why a calculation run for a baby should not be assumed to hold for the next ten years. Rerunning it at each stage is worth the two minutes.