Eligible working parents with children aged nine months and over will soon be able to register for 15 hours free childcare per week for the first time. This is part of the extension of the free childcare scheme announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in his 2023 Spring Budget. This is the second phase of the free childcare scheme shake up; the first was extending 15 hours free childcare per week to working parents of two-year olds, applications of which opened in January 2024, with it coming into effect from April 2024.
When it was first announced, the extension of the free childcare scheme was welcomed by many parents, especially for those who had cited high childcare costs as the reason they weren't expanding their family. However, chronic underfunding and a staffing crisis threw a significant spanner in the government's plans for the first wave of the extension and it issued a stark warning, saying they couldn't force childcare providers to offer the government-subsidised hours, leaving many families wondering whether the government could actually deliver on its free childcare promise.
Despite this, the extension is plowing ahead with the confirmation of the date the application window for the second phase of the scheme. And there is more to come. In the 2023 Spring budget, Jeremy Hunt also announced that the 30 hours free childcare scheme would be extended to eligible families from when their child turned nine months old, but that is not due to come into effect until September 2025.
When can parents of children from nine months old apply for 15 hours free childcare?
Working parents with children aged nine months and over can apply for 15 hours free childcare from 12 April 2024, with the offer effective from September 2024. This follows the earlier extension of the 15 free childcare hours scheme to parents of two-year-olds, which will come into effect in April. According to the Department for Education, more than 150,000 children are set to benefit from the first phase of the scheme, saving parents more than £500million in childcare costs. You can sign up for more information, check your eligibility and register on the government's Childcare Choices website. Parents wanting to take up the free hours should also reach out to their preferred childcare provider to secure a physical place as soon as possible.
As part of the application process, parents will need to reconfirm their eligibility for tax-free childcare and the 15/30 hours free childcare every three months. Parents who are already claiming tax free childcare and need to reconfirm their eligibility between 1 April and 12 May 2024, will automatically be issued a code in the post by HMRC soon after applications open.
Can the government deliver on its promise?
We hope that the government can deliver on its free childcare promises, as the expansion is desperately needed by so many parents. To combat the staffing shortages that jeopardise the rollout of the free childcare scheme, the government recently launched a childminder start-up grant, offering £600 for those providers who register with Ofsted and £1,200 for those who register with a childminder agency, in an attempt to reduce the shortage. In addition, a new consultation has launched which will ask childcare providers, parents and local authorities for their opinions on how the government can help more childminders join and stay in the profession as the expansion continues.
A successful rollout of the free childcare scheme will also be pivotal in helping to rectify the 'disproportionate impact' childcare has on a mother's career. According to the Parenthood: Uplifting New Mothers at Work report from the Fawcett Society, 10 per cent of mothers had to quit their job due to childcare obligations and pressures, and, despite feeling more ambitious career-wise after having a baby, more than a third felt that their childcare commitments would hinder them from reaching their goals in work.
This extension of the free childcare scheme isn't enough to end the motherhood penalty altogether, but it's a step in the right direction. As long as there is enough supply to meet demand.
Make sure you also check how the child benefit shake up announced in the 2024 Spring Budget will affect your family, and how much more you might receive when child benefit goes up in 2024.
