I totally disagree with your initial statement, especially in regards to early years. Getting children into nursery at an early age is vital for their development and one of the biggest early divisions in society is those than can afford nursery prior to the state subsidised hours.
With the best will in the world an average parent can't commit the time, nor has the expertise in child development to maximise the potential development of children. Having had experience in the sector for over 10 years, it is amazing to see the difference in development levels between kids who have been in nursery from the start (pre 1 yr old) and those who just turn up at 3 for the 15 hrs, there is no comparison.
Completely agree. Both of ours went to childcare as soon as they could only 2-3 days a week - but it did them a world of good socialising with other kids. It was good for us too, we made new friends (via parents) but also gave us some quality time back!
As a result both our kids are bilingual (mainly because of me but they did French classes which is why we really liked it), they have friends and they know how to share and interact with other children.
Completely agree with you about the development as well, it's like they go on some sort of matrix-like learning it's amazing. Our eldest was on the purple level books by the age of 4 - that's not just down to us, but thanks to the childminder being passionate and committed to the development of the children in their care.
I think London needs to be removed from U.K. average X statistics all together as the cost of living there has long outgrown all but the most generous London weighting allowances. For example, my last Zone 1 <> Zone 5 Oyster card monthly ticket was £220, so just travelling to work was costing me over £2,500 a year.
There’s also the “Where did my pay rise go again?” fun of a salary increase pushing you just over the line into the next PAYE band.
You can be earning way over the average salary in London, live very modestly and still have little in the way of disposable income at month’s end. It’s also dirty, noisy and an increasingly dangerous place to raise children in. We lived in a very quiet, almost village like area of NW London with Epping Forrest 300 metres from our front door and we watched all the inner city problems gradually expand out towards us over the 20 years we lived there.
I live in the countryside, and used to commute to london... hello £5-6k annual travelcard! Goodbye any semblance of pay rise! That said, our house would be worth millions in London, it's probably not even worth 500k where we are, but it has a massive garden and is detached. It needs a LOT of work, but it's good enough. And that's the issue with life, despite earning a decent wage, just "redoing the house" is a commitment that takes years to save up for unless you release equity from the house.
Interestingly when I was living in London, I was on a public sector salary, but life wasn't so bad as my expectations were low!
I guess with pay-rises you get used to a different standard of life, and you just have to balance it. I still struggle - i.e. sometimes I will impulsively buy something when I don't really need it - it's fine when you can afford it, but even if it is affordable doesn't make it sensible.
I think people struggle to transition from the impulsivity to long-termism. I don't think either is a sensible strategy, but more of a blend between both - I can honestly say I do struggle with it sometimes!
