A nursery owner who has stated that her business has £10,000 debt from unpaid fees has hit out at parents who can afford luxuries but claim they are too poor to pay for childcare.
Jessica Webber, who owns the Toddle In nursery in Lancashire, posted a furious rant on social media saying she was ‘fairly livid after going through today’s outstanding debts’ after seeing parents who owe money brag about their lavish lifestyles on Facebook.
In the post, she condemned parents who boasted online about treating themselves to hair extensions, manicures and holidays whilst knowingly racking up unpaid nursery fees.
In her rant, Ms Webber said: “If you see this as unprofessional, then so be it, but I’m fairly livid after going through today’s outstanding debts at nursery!
“Therefore, until you have paid up and or if you are unable to afford the fees, in order for us to pay the wages for the people to look after your children and pay for the food to feed your children and the toys for them to play with, maybe consider prioritising.
“Holidays, new cars, new outfits, hair/nail extensions, tattoos, nights out etc are luxuries, not essentials.
“Housing, utilities, food, and if you choose to use a nursery, child care fees, are necessities.
“We are not a charity. We are a small business with large overheads and merely ask for prompt payment for the services we provide and you receive.”
Ms Webber said that the post was a last resort after all other avenues – such as payment plans – had failed, with some parents still owing her money after their children had left for school. She has now been driven to contact a debt recovery agency to force some parents to pay up.
Her post has received widespread support, including from parents whose children attend the nursery.
Ms Webber added: “Unfortunately, people need to face the facts that not everyone puts the care of their children as a priority and that in reality, there’s just a minority of people who are egocentric individuals who think the world owes them!”
She added: “To be told they are waiting for payment from tax credits, student finance, child support etc. (sometimes genuine), only to see FB posts of them on holiday or on a night out with their new eyelashes, before disappearing and owing hundreds of pounds.
“So frankly, I don’t care if it causes embarrassment to those that dodge paying in lieu of luxuries!
“Those parents who struggle paying for genuine reasons know that we are there to help them in any way we can. But in the meantime, my original point still stands. We provide a service. We have wages and other overheads to pay. We aren’t a charity.”
Well done, we learnt that lesson very early on. A parent who was getting 70% of her childcare fees covered by the social services, didn’t pay us. It turned that she was a professional at this sort of thing. Had plenty of money for flat screen tv, sky, cigarettes latest phones etc. But had racked up thousands of pounds of debt with all sorts of different companies and people. CAP took her in, and offered to repay £1.00 a month. In the end we thought it’s not worth the hassle and CAP also dropped her. She has no conscience and is probably still screwing people over. I cannot stand people like her, freeloading off of others who are working hard and contributing to the taxes that live off in benefits.
I support the “rant” completely, after being fed all sorts of excuses over the years it is frustrating to see parents prioritising luxuries over childcare payments. We have to pay wages to people who work very hard for very little as due to ever rising costs associated with the childcare sector their wages can’t increase as they should. I am very lucky at the moment because I have a wonderful management team who clamp down on ‘non payers’ ( to help ensure their wages). People have a distorted view of childcare costs, they see the fees charged and think that all that money goes to the nursery owners, they do not take into account all the overheads incurred, wages, food, utility bills, telephone, insurance, repairs,toys, cleaning costs and services, accountancy etc. Not to mention all the unpaid hours that go into the business painting and decorating, gardening shopping round for the cheapest prices on things because there isn’t enough in the budget for ‘luxuries’. Our industry is founded on a passion for childcare and that passion is taken advantage of by people who have other priorities, we need to stand together on this and support one another.
Delighted you said it how it is. Seen this so many times and yet as providers we seem to be scared of challenging parents in case we are breaking some law or data protection act. I certainly don’t agree that we can’t share information among providers if a parent has left owing fees. At the end of the day if a parent is moving children between settings then is this not a child protection issue.