The cost of raising a child to the age of 18 has never been higher, even though there is extra government help with child care costs it is still unaffordable for the badly paid and even more expensive for the well-paid.

It sounds good to get 30 hours of free nursery care until you find out it is for only 38 weeks of the year, and nurseries can charge those with a good income twice as much as those on an average wage, and then it is withdrawn for those who earn £100,000. It can cost £25,000 a year of taxed income to pay for one two-year old in a London nursery and Tax-free child care is also withdrawn for the best paid.

In addition parents who individually earn £60,000 start to lose child benefit.

But there are ways of cutting the cost of child care without sacrificing quality.

Shared care by parents can reduce the income of a higher earner so that he or she qualifies for the free help and also reduces the monthly child care bills. It also helps those with lower incomes and is definitely worthwhile even though the savings are not quite so dramatic.

Paying more into a pension can also help a parent qualify for child benefit and also builds up their funds for retirement. Grandparents can also help their children by looking after grandchildren up to the age of 12 and then can gain extra NI years towards their state pension.

It is all super complicated so parents need to allocate time to checking their child care costs and lots of mistakes can be made, which if they are not spotted can result in overpayment, or even worse substantial arrears accruing.

The planning is vital as few families can pay the mortgage or rent with only one income.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.