Following the initial legislation, which meant that teachers were ruled out from making significant savings, the National Union of Teachers campaigned to have the law changed and in June 2006 teachers were no longer the only profession to be exempt from sacrificing part of their salary for childcare vouchers. To date, however, take-up by teachers remains one of the lowest, highlighting a worrying lack of knowledge within the profession about the availability and benefits that childcare vouchers offer - especially at a time when such money-saving options can make a real difference to the quality of family life.
Amanda Ward, Director at Early Years Vouchers Ltd, a leading childcare allowance organisation, is now working to boost awareness of the childcare cost savings that parents within the teaching profession are entitled to.
"The average cost of a childminder or nanny currently stands at around £167 per week and unfortunately this is a cost that many parents have to bear. Calculate this by weeks in a year and the number of years you'll need childcare and you could be looking at a five-figure sum. We are all aware that 2009 is going to be a financially difficult year and everyone is doing their best to reduce their outgoings - whether its through supermarket coupons or by changing their gas supplier - and, in the past 12 months alone, the number of companies signing on to childcare vouchers has increased five-fold.
"Although teachers were initially exempt from using vouchers, the ruling was reversed over two and a half years ago - yet just a small percentage have since signed-on. This points towards a significant lack of knowledge and confusion about what benefits they are legally entitled to and more needs to be done to educate the industry."
Anyone in the teaching profession - whether it's a headmaster or a teaching assistant - who has a child up to the age of 15-years-old is entitled to save Tax and National Insurance on the first £55 of their salary each week - which can add up to almost £2,400, per year, per family. Working Mums and Dads can use the vouchers to pay for nurseries and childminders, as well as breakfast and after-school clubs for older children.
Amanda Ward continued: "It's not just teachers that need to be told about the benefits they can gain from childcare vouchers, but their employers too. In many cases, the employer doesn't flag up the availability of the vouchers to their employees, however it costs nothing for a company to sign up to a childcare voucher scheme; in fact, because employers don't pay National
Insurance on the vouchers, being part of such a scheme can actually make them money, so everyone benefits. Companies can be reluctant to sign up to the scheme because the misconception still exists that implementing a voucher scheme will add to a busy HR workload. But here at Early Years we offer fully automated services and personal customer support, so there is no excuse for parents to be missing out on such substantial savings.
"Many employers are looking into ways they can be more compassionate, offering a better work-life balance to their employees. These vouchers are real cash benefits that can be passed onto parents at no extra cost to themselves. Saving money with your employer rather than your bank can prove much more beneficial in the current climate."
For further information please contact Amanda Ward on 0845 0945 804 or email her at amanda.ward@childcare-vouchers.net
