Help with childcare costs

The government currently funds the following early years entitlements for parents of young children:

• Families receiving some additional forms of government support, such as certain benefits or credits, may be eligible to access 15 hours of 2Help childcare per week for their 2-year-old (see page 2)
• Eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months can access 15 hours of childcare per week, known as the ‘expanded’ entitlement (see page 3)
• All parents of 3 and 4-year-olds can access 15 hours of childcare per week, regardless of their immigration status or whether they are working (see page 4)
• Eligible working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds can access an additional 15 hours of childcare, known as the ‘30 Hours or extended’ entitlement (see page 5)

At the Spring Budget 2023, the Government announced that funded childcare will be expanded to working parents of eligible children over the age of nine months. Changes started from April 2024.

The Government have introduced the expansion gradually, to make sure that providers can meet the needs of more families. The changes are set out below:

• Starting from April 2024, working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week
• Starting from September 2024, working parents of children from the age of 9 months will be able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week
• From September 2025, working parents of children from the age of 9 months up to school age will be able to access 30 hours of funded childcare a week

For more information about the working parent entitlements please see page 3.

For information about all government help with childcare costs please visit Childcare Choices.