Managing child-related expenses in England

Hi, and thanks for the question.

The UK Government has a website that deals with this specific subject and probably answers most if not all of anybody's questions; this link will take you straight to it.

There is a Press article on the Euronews website related to childcare costs for the whole of Europe; this link will take you straight to it.

The UK Government does provide some support to help offset the parental costs of childcare, but this support does not cover all the costs and the parent's specific circumstances will determine how much that is; in addition to this, there is additional help for disabled children. There is an article on the website of one of the childcare providers that explains what support is available; this link will take you straight to it.

Medical Expenses - assuming you're in the UK legally, this is covered/provided by the UK National Health Service (NHS). Opinions differ as to the effectiveness of this service, my own experience is that it works in delivering Healthcare free at the point of delivery. If you want more than this, then there are private healthcare providers, but you pay a lot of money for that.

Child activities - the childcare nursery that my grandson uses arranges lots of activities; from dance to soft-play events, they charge extra for transport if it is offsite (but the majority are on site).

With respect to childcare, there are 2 distinct ex-pat marketplaces in the UK; the first consists of people who have come to the UK to work, are well paid and can afford the extra costs of childcare; they get no significant State support simply because they earn over a specific threshold (means testing); my daughter falls in this category, she could claim a small amount of support, but the hassle factor of filling in reams of forms means she doesn't bother - she can afford it. The second consists of those who are here either because of their personal circumstances, or life choice issues that have forced them to leave their home country, these are the people who get the most help, albeit after being in a long queue, but even they have to make a contribution.

Finally, if the cost of childcare is too much for you, to the extent that it prevents you from working to support yourself and your family, then you must seriously consider how wise it is to leave your homeland. For those that have to leave, then life is not easy in the UK and I wish you all the best of luck.