Parents of 3 and 4 year olds could be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare from September and tax-free childcare

The DfE have published the following clarification on who will and will not qualify for the 30 hours free childcare, please check your eligibility.

Parents of three and four year olds need to meet the following criteria in order to be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare:

• They earn or expect to earn the equivalent to 16 hours at National Minimum or Living Wage over the coming three months.
• This equates to £120 a week (or c. £6,000 a year) for each parent over 25 years old or £112.80 a week (or c.£5,800 a year) for each parent between 21 and 24 years old. This applies whether you are in paid employment, self-employed or on zero hours contract.
• The parent (and their partner where applicable) should be seeking the free childcare to enable them to work.
• Where one or both parents are on maternity, paternity, shared parental or adoption leave, or if they are on statutory sick leave.
• Where one parent meets the income criteria and the other is unable to work because they are disabled, have caring responsibilities or have been assessed as having limited capability to work.
• Where a parent is in a ‘start-up period’ (i.e. they are newly self-employed) they do not need to demonstrate that they meet the income criteria for 12 months.
• If a non-EEA national, the parent must have recourse to public funds.

Who will not qualify?

• A parent will not meet the criteria when:
• Either parent has an income of more than £100,000
• Either parent is a non-EEA national and subject to immigration control (and has no recourse to public funds)

What happens if a parent loses eligibility?

• They will receive a “grace period” – this means they will be able to keep their childcare for a short period.
• Once the “grace period” has lapsed, the parent may be entitled to the universal 15 hour entitlement.

If you are eligible for the 30 hours free you should now apply through the childcare service Childcare Choices Website.

If you are a working parent, in addition to the 30 hours of free childcare you can now apply for the additional government childcare scheme– Tax-Free Childcare. This means if your child is aged under 4 on 31 August 2017, you could receive a government top-up of £2 for every £8 that you pay into your Tax-Free Childcare account.

The Childcare Choices website provides all the information you need on the two government’s childcare schemes.

You only need to make a single application for both schemes.