Jeremy Hunt is set to announce a 'Budget for growth' to boost efforts to get people back to work - with a major expansion of childcare support set to form a key part of the package.
Reports of a multibillion-pound package of free childcare for one and two-year-olds received a tentative welcome on Tuesday evening, as parents and nurseries await the full details from the Chancellor today.
The plan is believed to include 30 hours a week of childcare for parents in England with one and two-year-olds, building significantly on the current provision.
With this in mind, we have taken a look at the Chancellor's own family life, including his wife Lucia Hunt - who no doubt has ever had to worry about affording childcare.
Mr Hunt met Lucia Gao in 2008 in Warwick at a Hotcourses event - an online education business which turned then 40-year-old Mr Hunt into a multi-millionaire.
Lucia, who was born in Xi'an, China, was working at Warick University at the time, where she helped recruit Chinese students.
There is an 11-year age-gap between the couple, with Jeremy now aged 56 and Lucia 44.
And this might be why he reportedly describes her as the "sparkler" in his and his family's lives.
Just less than a year after they met, Jeremy asked Lucia to marry him during a Christmas Eve walk and the pair later tied the knot in 2009 at Lucia's home in China, surrounded by family.
It was here where the political heavyweight came to be affectionately known by his wife as 'Big Rice.'
Lucia has in the past let slip that the pet name came from her grandmother when they were in China together for their big day.
Speaking to the Mail, she said: "My grandma found it very hard to say 'Jeremy' so she would just call him the 'big mi'. Mi means 'rice', so I call him 'big rice'."
And during Jeremy's Tory leadership campaign in 2019, he revealed that his wife was his "secret weapon", saying Lucia was the "perfect Foreign Secretary’s wife" after she accompanied him on a seven-day, five-country tour of Africa.
She is often pictured at Conservative Party events by his side - and Jeremy has previously told the Daily Telegraph that Lucia's "toughness" was good to have in a negotiation.
It is not clear what Lucia's occupation is now, but she regularly appeared on Sky TV's China Hour and presented her own show called Signature Flowers Of China.
Lucia is also mum to their three children - 12-year-old son Jack was born in 2010 followed by daughters Anna, 10, and Eleanor, 8.
They try to keep them out of the spotlight but they have been pictured on occasion.
They have a family home Jeremy's constituency of Hambledon, in South West Surrey.
But after moving into No 11 Downing Street, the children are reportedly friendly with the Prime Minister's children next door.
"The children have already started regular playdates with Rishi [Sunak]’s children, as they're just next door," Mr Hunt said, according to the Mail.
Together, Lucia and Jeremy run a real estate business called Mare Pond Properties Ltd and according to the The Evening Standard, they have a flat in Pimlico, South London, which they bought for just under £1.7million.
Jeremy was appointed as Chancellor on October 14, 2022, after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked from the role.
Mr Hunt has remained in this role ever since, despite the resignation of Liz Truss in October 2022.
