Starting today, there is an extended implementation of free childcare for children under five, which could lead to savings of up to £7,500 per child annually for parents, as indicated by the Government.
As of today, eligible working parents with children who will be nine months old by September can now apply to receive a maximum of 30 hours of free childcare per week in England.
Currently, working parents with children over nine months can access 15 hours of subsidized childcare weekly, with the complete implementation of 30 hours per week set to start in September.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said in an interview in today’s Daily Mail that women can choose to have more children thanks to the policy change.
But how exactly is the system changing and who is eligible? Read MailOnline’s Q&A for a breakdown on the new rules for free childcare:
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson taking part in an art activity with pupils during a visit to the school-based nursery at Ark Start Oval in East Croydon, South London, on July 10, 2024
What is changing to free childcare?
From today, working parents of children who turn nine months old before September 1 can apply to access up to 30 hours of free childcare per week, until their child is old enough to start school.
Working parents of children older than nine months are currently able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September.
What are the new entitlements for free childcare?
The entitlements are different based on four main factors as follows:
- your child’s age and circumstances
- whether you’re working
- your income (and your partner’s income, if you have one)
- your immigration status
Firstly, it depends on your child’s age:
- Under nine months: You get no free childcare
- Nine months to two years old: You get 15 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year. From September, this will increase to 30 hours per week of free childcare.
- Three to four years old: You get 30 hours per week of free childcare for 38 weeks of the year. This is not changing in September.
You will not be eligible if your child does not usually live with you.
What qualifies as someone who is working?
You can usually get free childcare for children aged under five for working parents if you – and your partner, if you have one – are:
- in work or starting a new job
- on sick leave or annual leave
- on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave
What about if you’re on benefits?
The Government says you may still be eligible if your partner is working, and you are on carer’s leave or if you get any of the following benefits:
- Incapacity Benefit
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Limited Capability for Work Benefit
- contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
Sir Keir Starmer and Bridget Phillipson on a visit Nursery Hill Primary School in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, as Labour unveiled its childcare plans on June 10 last year ahead of the election
What income is required to qualify?
Over the next three months you and your partner – if you have one – must each expect to earn at least:
- £2,539 before tax if you’re aged 21 or over (equivalent to £195 per week)
- £2,080 before tax if you’re aged 18 to 20 (equivalent to £160 per week)
- £1,570 before tax if you’re under 18 or an apprentice (equivalent to £120 per week)
This is the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average.
However, you will not be eligible if you or your partner have an expected adjusted net income of over £100,000 in the current tax year.
What if you’re self-employed or your income varies?
You can use an average of how much you expect to earn over the current tax year if you work throughout the year but do not get paid regularly; or you’re self-employed and do not expect to earn enough in the next three months.
The Government gives an example as follows:
‘You’re eligible if you’re 21 or over and do not have a regular income but earn £10,158 a year. This is the same as earning £2,539 every 3 months on average.’
If you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago, you can earn less and still be eligible for free childcare for working parents.
If you have more than one job, you can use your total earnings to work out if you meet the threshold. This includes earnings from any employment and self-employment.
If you’re both employed and self-employed, you can use just your self-employment income if this would make you eligible.
What income doesn’t count toward minimum earnings?
Certain types of income will not count towards the minimum amount you must earn to be eligible.
These include dividends; interest; income from investing in property; and pension payments.
What must your immigration status be to qualify?
You – and your partner if you have one – must have a National Insurance number.
The person who applies must also have at least one of the following:
- British or Irish citizenship
- settled or pre-settled status, or you have applied and you’re waiting for a decision
- permission to access public funds (a UK residence card will state whether you cannot do this)
School children are helped to rinse their toothbrushes by a teacher inside a classroom at Fair Furlong Primary School in Bristol in March amid a national supervised toothbrushing campaign
When can you apply for 30 hours of free childcare?
The Government says the deadline for applying for 15 hours of free childcare has already passed, so you will now be applying for 30 hours instead.
If you’re already getting 15 hours of free childcare, you’ll automatically get 30 hours from September as long as you’re still eligible.
You’ll need to confirm your details are up to date and give the code to your childcare provider. Also, check with them to find out the exact date your free childcare starts.
You can apply for the 30 hours from when your child is 23 weeks old. When you can get your hours from will depend on the date your child turns nine months old:
| When your child turns 9 months old | When you can get your hours from | Deadline for applying |
|---|---|---|
| Between 1 September and 31 December | 01-Jan | 31-Dec |
| Between 1 January and 31 March | 01-Apr | 31-Mar |
| Between 1 April and 31 August | 01-Sep | 31-Aug |
The date you return to work and whether you’re on a certain type of leave will also affect when you can apply for free childcare. Click here for the full breakdown.
How can you apply?
Visit the Government website to go through the eligibility criteria to see what you can get by clicking here, and then create a childcare account to apply.
You will need to provide different amounts of information based on your circumstances, and the process is said to take about 20 minutes.
How much could the change be worth to families?
Ministers say the scheme could save families up to £7,500 per child a year.
Won’t this increase demand for nurseries?
The Labour Government announced up to to 4,000 childcare places are set to be rolled out at new or expanded school-based nurseries in England from September.
The Department for Education has approved the first round of funding for 300 school-based nursery projects across England.
Each successful school, which were able to apply for up to £150,000, will receive the amount of funding they bid for to repurpose or extend existing spaces and deliver childcare provision.
The first 300 school-based nurseries will offer an average of 20 places per site and up to 6,000 new places in total, with up to 4,000 set to be available by the end of September, the DfE said.
It comes after schools were able to bid for a share of £15million funding in October to deliver up to 300 new or expanded nurseries across England.
Labour said in its manifesto that it would open an additional 3,000 nurseries through ‘upgrading space’ in primary schools.
Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits Busy Bees nursery in Harrogate on August 21, 2023
What has the Government said about it?
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said women will be given added ‘freedom’ to have more children by the expanded government-funded childcare.
She told the Daily Mail that the scheme would give working mothers more freedom to balance work and family life.
‘They will be able to make choices about the career that’s right for them, the hours that they want, but also [have] the freedom to think about family size and how many children they want to have, with support from the Government around childcare hours,’ she said.
‘That brings huge benefits to working women and this is a generational shift in terms of the new funding that’s been put in place.’
Ms Phillipson also said she had been ‘flat out to make sure we’ve got as many places available as possible’.
Who introduced the scheme?
The scheme was originally introduced by the previous Conservative government, but is coming into force under the existing Labour government.
What else is the Government doing with nurseries?
Ministers have launched a consultation on how the Government can help nurseries to make better use of outdoor space for play and learning.
The Government’s early years framework only formally recognises indoor space in its requirements for how many children nurseries and childcare providers can take on at any one time.
The consultation will look at whether safe outdoor space can be included in meeting those requirements.
