Comments:
I am continually frustrated at the disparity of childcare costs across the RAF. I have been assigned to the South East area, not through choice, and the childcare is at least £300 more a month compared to someone of the same rank stationed elsewhere in the UK such as Norfolk. SFA is charged at a daily rate which is standard across the RAF no matter what area you reside so my argument is why childcare cannot be charged in the same manner. Those that are disadvantaged by being in an expensive location should be given some extra support by way of an allowance. I posted these concerns to a Facebook page and was astounded by the response of many families disgruntled by the same issue and in many instances this is causing retention issues with personnel having to leave the RAF earlier than they would have liked, cutting their careers short as they simply can’t afford to raise a family and pay the premium childcare when forced to move to a non-preference location. I work within manning and it is most certainly a trend and a major consideration for personnel in accepting relocation and assignments. Put simply, people do not want to be assigned to an expensive area when they will be hundreds of pounds out of pocket compared to a peer on the same wage. It can’t be too difficult to calculate an average across all RAF Units and work out who is being disadvantaged by paying over this amount and standardise the rate paid. I would like to extend my family but I simply cannot afford £1800+ a month on childcare and so I am forced to wait 3 years until my next assignment or my child reaches school age. I am signed on to LOS 30 service however I will be leaving earlier for this very reason that I want a better work / life balance and by being nearer to my family where childcare is so much cheaper I can also have extra help from my family. The childcare costs in the South East are crippling, I don’t know how the juniors manage it.
The nursery on camp (RAF Odiham) has been unable to offer my daughter a place even though she has been on the waiting list since the day I got my assignment order 6 months ago. I have had to put her in a nearby nursery which is £1096. I don’t think it is fair that I am having to pay this much in childcare when other postings in the country pay significantly lower. I do not get any enhancement in pay for living in such an expensive area. My closest family are 6 hours away so I don’t have anyone else to help out with childcare. We are not entitled to child tax credits yet 80% of my husband’s wage has to pay for the childcare. I feel that forces families should have subsidised childcare to make it fairer or an enhancement in pay for living near London.
Cost of childcare is astronomical. I am full time single parent also holding short notice standby commitments on a Chinook squadron, night flying and many exercises. My daughter is in full time childcare as well as evenings/overnights. I do not receive any child tax credit as I’m not eligible and am slowly getting into more and more debt due to the cost of childcare.
I’m paying out almost £2000 per month when I’m only taking home around £1300 and my other half £1800 - that’s without any bills or food coming out. My issue is that we did not choose to be posted here as originally we were posted to RAF Coningsby and the childcare was going to be approx £1200 per month but because that was stopped and changed to Odiham, £700 was added to that bill. I don’t want to leave the service but I can see why so many women do. I’ve served almost 9 years so feel like I don’t want to leave just because the cost of childcare in some areas.
We are married SACs stationed at RAF Odiham having to pay £1800 - £2300 per month for childcare. There a very few childcare providers in the area. The cost of a nanny is prohibitive because of the proximity to London and nannies wanting to be paid London rates.
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www.raf-ff.org.uk
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