Martin Lewis says 800,000 people are currently missing out on childcare help and not claiming the financial help they're entitled to. The financial expert set out what parents can do to get support after a dad who earns £30,000 a year asked the money-saving expert if he would be "better off on benefits".
In The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV, the dad said he and his partner have eight-month-old twins and they were facing childcare costs of £3,000 per month, meaning he "simply can't afford to go back to work". He asked if he would be "better off on benefits" due to the huge cost, reports YorkshireLive.
He said: "We have eight month old twins and simply can't afford to go back to work. Childcare costs for five days per week are coming in at over £3,000 a month. I earn £30k per year but this is not enough to support our family. Is there any help available to us or are we, I hate to say it, better off on quitting our jobs and going on benefits?"
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In response, Martin Lewis flagged up some of the things parents facing similar situations could do, telling the dad: "I cannot tell you if you will qualify but follow the three steps I'm going to give you through."
Martin said that there are currently 800,000 people missing out on childcare help (that's Ofsted-regulated or equivalent, childminders, nurseries, holiday clubs and after school clubs).
He said if your child is aged between three and four years old, you could be due a free 15 to 30 hours of childcare per week. Martin continued that if you pay for childcare and your family's income is below £40,000 then you should do a benefits calculation online.
If you're already on Universal Credit and you aren't getting childcare money, you could be due up to 85% of the childcare costs and if you're on tax credits, you could be due up to 70% of your childcare costs.
And he added that if you have tried both of those, there is tax-free childcare available to those working and earning national minimum wage for more than 16 hours per week. If you put in 80p, the state adds another 20p, up to a max of £2,000 a year until the child turns 11, and you can apply via gov.uk.
Martin added: "Michael I hope some of that works for you, I can't promise that it will but it's worth exploring all these options."
