Getting help with childcare costs.

We know how expensive childcare can be, but if you find yourself struggling with childcare costs, we’re here with advice on the various ways you can get help.

The good news is that you can claim funded childcare as well as help with childcare costs.

The government offers Tax-Free Childcare up to £2,000 per child each year. The childcare calculator at GOV.UK to show you how much help you might get towards childcare costs.

What is Tax Free childcare?

Tax-Free Childcare is a government scheme to help working parents with the cost of childcare in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It can be used to pay for:

• Registered childminders, nurseries and nannies.
• Registered breakfast, after-school clubs and playschemes, and holiday schemes.
• Registered schools (not including school fees, unless your child is below the compulsory school age)
• Homecare workers from a registered homecare agency.

You may be entitled to 15 or 30 hours of help with childcare costs.

The number of hours you’re eligible for depends on the country you live in.

Tax free childcare in more detail.

The government will add £2 for every £8 you pay for childcare up to £2000 per child per year (or £4000 per year if your child is disabled). Tax Free Childcare is available for children up to the age of 11.

If your child receives Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP), or is sight impaired, you can get tax free childcare until the child turns 17.

You can also get Tax Free childcare if:

• You’re a single parent and earning the equivalent of at least 16 hours per week at the minimum wage (if under 25) or the Living Wage (if over 25).
• You’re one of a couple who both earn this amount, or one of you earns this amount and the other doesn’t work because of illness, disability or caring responsibilities.
• You (and your partner if you have one) are earning less than £100,000 per year.
• You’re self-employed and started your business in the past 12 months.

If you have caring responsibilities, are ill, or disabled and unable to work:

You might still qualify for childcare if in a couple where one of you is working and the other is unable to work and receives any of the following benefits:

• Carer’s Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit or long-term Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
• National insurance credits because of incapacity or limited capability for work.

Funded hours that parents are entitled to.

These are 15 hours for children of working parents aged 9 months – 2 years. This will be extended to 30 hours in September which includes 15 hours for disadvantaged 2 year olds, 15 hours for all 3-4 year olds, and 30 hours for eligible 3-4 year olds.

The weekly funded hours are for 38 weeks of the year. If a child’s nursery operates for 50 weeks of the year, the funded hours provision can be annualised, so 570 hours could be used to cover 15 hours per week for 38 weeks, or 11.4 hours per week for 50 weeks.

Children become eligible for funded hours in the term after they reach the age threshold. (So, for example a child who becomes 9 months old in February will only become eligible for funded hours from the spring term onwards, and a child who turns 3 in May will only qualify for funded hours from the autumn term onwards.)

Rules about tax free childcare and universal credit, tax credits, or childcare vouchers.

You can use Tax-Free childcare at the same time as using 15 or 30 hours free childcare, but not at the same time as Universal Credit or Tax Credits. So, if you already get help with childcare costs from Universal Credit or tax credits, opening a Tax-Free Childcare account will stop all your benefits payments, not only those for childcare.

What is Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit?

Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit are payments made to people who work and have low wages, and apply to earnings from employment or from self-employment.

As Working Tax Credit is gradually being replaced by Universal Credit, the first time you apply for benefits you’ll be told which you should apply for.

For either of these benefits you will need to use approved childcare, such as a registered childminder, play scheme, nursery or club, or a school or home care worker from a registered agency.

Whether you’re receiving Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit, you must report any changes in your circumstances to continue receiving the right amount.

If you get tax credits, Universal Credit, a childcare bursary or grant:

You cannot get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as claiming Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Universal Credit or childcare vouchers.

Which scheme you’re better off with depends on your situation. Use the childcare calculator to work out which type of support is best for you.

Universal Credit can help with the costs of childcare.

You may be able to claim up to 85% of your registered childcare costs if you’re eligible for Universal Credit, in paid work or due to start a job in the next month.

You have to pay for your childcare costs yourself unless you are eligible for an initial up-front childcare cost payment. You then report them through your Universal Credit account and will be paid some of the money back in your next Universal Credit payment. You can get up to 85% of childcare costs paid back to you. The maximum amount for each assessment period is:

• £1,014.63 for one child
• £1,739.37 for 2 or more children

You will only get the money back with Universal Credit after the childcare actually happens.

You can claim Universal Credit Childcare costs for all the children you’re responsible for until the 31 August after their 16th birthday.

All of this can be a bit confusing, so if you’re not sure whether using Tax-Free Childcare or your benefits would be better for you, speak to an independent adviser on benefits at Advice Local.

YMCA is the largest voluntary childcare provider in the country.

Our Family and Youth work supports children, young people and parents all year round with nurseries and children’s centres, before and after school clubs, holiday clubs and camps, school activity programmes, youth work, respite for young carers, parenting programmes, and family mediation.

YMCA child care near me.

We provide Nursery Education Funding for eligible 2-year-olds, 15 hours funding for all 3 and 4 year-olds, and 30 hours funding for eligible 3 and 4-year-olds.

For more information you can access: Childcare Choices to find out more about how you can get help with childcare costs.

We also accept all childcare vouchers. Useful information on Child Tax Credit can be found at to Gov.uk.