The sticker price is never real.

No — childcare rates vary enormously by city and change every year, so any figure it invented would mislead you. Instead it tells you exactly what to ask each provider so your quotes are comparable, then turns them into true annual and per-hour costs you can rank.

Because in many countries employing a nanny makes you an employer: payroll registration, employer taxes and contributions, holiday and sick pay, pension contributions, liability insurance, a written contract and notice obligations — plus a payroll service fee. In the calculator, a nanny at 900 a week with 25% employer costs comes to about 60,600 a year, or 29.28 per hour used. Check the actual obligations with your tax authority or an accountant.

Cheapest on the annual bill, not per hour. In the worked example an au pair totals 16,800 a year against a nursery's 22,200 — but because programmes cap hours, the real cost per hour of care used is 14.61 versus the nursery's 12.07. Au pair programmes are cultural exchange with limits on hours and duties, and treating one as a full-time nanny can breach programme and visa rules.

Weeks charged versus weeks used, closure and training days, late pickup fees, registration and deposits, nappies and food if not included, annual increases — and above all backup care. Children in group care are ill often, and someone has to be free. The comparison weights illness cover heavily for exactly that reason.

No. Verify registration or licensing with the official regulator yourself, read inspection reports, call references, and confirm background checks, first aid and insurance before cost enters the decision. An option that collapses whenever the carer is ill usually costs more in lost work days than it saves.