![[UK] Summer holiday DWP payments and childcare available for eligible parents](http://gpa.net/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-A-young-family-enjoying-a-brea-422962664_1200x.jpg?v=1721874380)
With the summer holidays putting many UK households under extra financial strain, there are several ways for parents to get additional financial support to help with the care of their children, including government-funded childcare and benefit payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help with childcare costs, CambridgeshireLive reports.
According to reporting from Manchester Evening News, a range of help could be available to ease the burden of the school holidays.
In England, parents with a child aged three or four are reportedly entitled to 570 hours of government-funded childcare per year. This is ordinarily broken down into 15 hours a week for 38 weeks.
Although these hours can be stretched to last for further weeks by using fewer hours each week, parents may - in some cases, depending on local council rules - be required to have their child attend at least two and a half hours each week. To claim government-funded childcare, parents can ask their local nursery or childcare provider if any space is available and state that they want to sign up.
Parents of children aged between three and four can get an extra 15 hours of funded childcare per week (with a total of 30 hours per week) if they are eligible.
To qualify for the extra 15 hours, parents will reportedly need to:
- Be working
- Earn a wage equivalent to 16 hours a week at the national living or minimum wage
- Earn less than £100,000 a year.
The extra 15 hours will be extended to children aged two from September 2024.
Parents who currently work on a low income but do not meet the criteria for government-funded childcare, or those whose full childcare bill isn’t covered, may be able to claim extra through Universal Credit. In addition, they can claim up to 85 per cent of childcare costs through Universal Credit.
To do so they must get childcare approved through a registered provider. This money can be claimed back regardless of how many hours parents work. The maximum is £1,014 for one child and £1,739 for two or more children.
To make the claim, eligible parents must provide evidence of costs, such as a letter from their childcare provider. Claims can reportedly be made up to three months in advance, however, the actual payment may only be made after childcare is provided unless a parent is entering work or increasing their hours.
Source: CambridgeshireLive
(Link via original reporting)
With the summer holidays putting many UK households under extra financial strain, there are several ways for parents to get additional financial support to help with the care of their children, including government-funded childcare and benefit payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help with childcare costs, CambridgeshireLive reports.
According to reporting from Manchester Evening News, a range of help could be available to ease the burden of the school holidays.
In England, parents with a child aged three or four are reportedly entitled to 570 hours of government-funded childcare per year. This is ordinarily broken down into 15 hours a week for 38 weeks.
Although these hours can be stretched to last for further weeks by using fewer hours each week, parents may - in some cases, depending on local council rules - be required to have their child attend at least two and a half hours each week. To claim government-funded childcare, parents can ask their local nursery or childcare provider if any space is available and state that they want to sign up.
Parents of children aged between three and four can get an extra 15 hours of funded childcare per week (with a total of 30 hours per week) if they are eligible.
To qualify for the extra 15 hours, parents will reportedly need to:
- Be working
- Earn a wage equivalent to 16 hours a week at the national living or minimum wage
- Earn less than £100,000 a year.
The extra 15 hours will be extended to children aged two from September 2024.
Parents who currently work on a low income but do not meet the criteria for government-funded childcare, or those whose full childcare bill isn’t covered, may be able to claim extra through Universal Credit. In addition, they can claim up to 85 per cent of childcare costs through Universal Credit.
To do so they must get childcare approved through a registered provider. This money can be claimed back regardless of how many hours parents work. The maximum is £1,014 for one child and £1,739 for two or more children.
To make the claim, eligible parents must provide evidence of costs, such as a letter from their childcare provider. Claims can reportedly be made up to three months in advance, however, the actual payment may only be made after childcare is provided unless a parent is entering work or increasing their hours.
Source: CambridgeshireLive
(Link via original reporting)