A young mum who quit work to be a stay-at-home mum says she would have only been £5 better off a day if she enrolled her baby in nursery.
Jasmin Clough and partner Alfie welcomed their daughter Elodie-Rae 10 months ago, and decided quickly not to enlist childcare services.
The 21-year-old mum, who worked as a gymnastics teacher, was earning £100 a day, and found that after paying £80 to a nursery, and deducting her transport and lunch costs, her earnings would be nominal.
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Instead, she decided to pack it in – at least for now – and focus on being around for little Elodie’s milestone moments.
While the family are pleased with their decision, Jasmin has been met with a mixed response and cruelly dubbed a “chav” on TikTok as a result.
“The only reason there is a negative response is because people assumed I was a single mum who got pregnant accidentally and didn’t plan and can’t afford anything, which is so far from the truth,” Jasmin, from Essex, told What’s The Jam.
In the TikTok she shared, she writes: “Putting my daughter in nursery for £80 a day to go to work and earn £100 a day but minus lunch and minus petrol…to earn approx £5 a day…NO THANK YOU.”
The young mum was met with a mixture of comments – with some people lauding her for spending the extra time with her child, and others insisting she should be working.
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Jasmin said: “Knowing I would be earning so little is disheartening and makes me feel for so much other mums out there – especially single mums.
“But at the same time, I feel so grateful for my partner and how he is able to support us.
“He works incredibly hard to give me and my daughter the best life possible.
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“We always knew we would be comfortable on one wage once we decided to have a baby – despite the trolls saying ‘should have thought about that before having a baby’.
“In the video I never said I didn’t work, I just said that I don’t use nursery.
“People took that and ran with it and assumed I don’t work as I don’t use nursery.
“If I need to do cover work or bits for my company, I have supportive parents and in-laws that will help.
“I think all the negative responses are all so negative because they assumed based off one six second video.
“If I made a video saying ‘my partner earns enough and I can be a stay at home mum we have enough money and are both happy and my daughters happy and it was all planned’ there would have been no negative comments.”
Jasmin says that, despite what people may have guessed online, the couple had carefully planned for Elodie and how they want to raise her.
She added: “We always knew this would be how it is, this was always our plan and it works very well for us.
“We knew that once we were lucky enough to have a baby, I was going to be a stay-at-home mum, or work very little hours in the evening to suit our family.
“Due to my career, I can work evenings if needed.
“I was working as a gymnastics teacher and I still do cover work if I’m needed.
“I’ve been doing that since I was 16 and I’ve worked my way up.
“I am very lucky in the role I have that I can go back when I need or when they need me to do the odd cover shift.”
And despite any criticism she has faced, Jasmin says it’s all well worth it to get to spend this precious time with her daughter.
She added: “Being a stay-at-home mum is the best feeling in the world.
“Not only am I able to be the one to bring up my daughter, she’s able to go places and see the world with me.
“Despite what the trolls were saying, my daughter is well-socialised as I’m able to take her to group and play sessions and soft plays and lots of places where she gets to interact with other children and babies.
“I will never miss a milestone.
“I also can make sure my partner has a dinner ready for him once he’s home and take the pressure off of both of us trying to split household tasks up in the day as I am able to do some in the day.”
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