Free Childcare and Early Education: A 2024 Guide for Parents

The UK government does not pay exclusively for childcare – however, they have committed to the free childcare hours scheme which gives families who fall into the eligible category access to funded hours.

The most important part of this that families need to focus on is that ‘eligible category’.

In order to be deemed eligible, parents need to meet the income and working criteria, and understand where they sit in relation to the funding given the age of their child. Let’s take a closer look at what this means.

The eligibility criteria states that parents need to:

·        earn more than the equivalent of 16 hours at the national living wage or minimum wage per week (this equates to around £9,518 per year)

·        earn less than £100,000 per year

This applies to each parent as an individual.

If you think you fall within these eligibility parameters, then the next thing you need to know is how much funding you are entitled to in 2024.

Working parents can get:

·        15 hours of free childcare per week for two-year-olds from April 2024 – this has already been rolled out.

·        15 hours of free childcare for nine month olds from September 2024

·        30 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds – this was already in place before the new funded childcare hours were announced and remains the same for parents.

·        30 hours free childcare for all under-5s from September 2025

The biggest difference that parents have and will notice is that the rollout of free childcare hours encompasses younger children and offers more funded hours of care. This is specifically designed to help those who need to return to work, but struggle to do so given the rise in childcare and living costs.

Another thing that parents need to take note of in 2024 is the fact that all funded childcare hours will need to be re-applied for every three months. This is to check that parents / families remain eligible, with your funding code expiring at the end of each three month period. Without this code, the nursery will be unable to redeem the government funding and will not grant you the free hours, so it’s crucial that this three month application becomes a part of your routine.

You might be wondering how much of an impact these free childcare hours could have.

It is believed that the average cost of a full-time nursery place, caring for a child under the age of 2 years for 50 hours per week, is around £15,700 in 2024. This is expected to rise again as we approach 2025, as it has every year in the past.

For most workers on an average salary, this represents anywhere between 40 and over 50% of their annual salary – making the free childcare hours a lifeline for many.

Claiming free childcare hours can be done through the government website, which will confirm your eligibility and then grant you access to a code that needs to be refreshed every three months as explained above.

It’s important when applying for and securing the free hours that you also check in with your local nursery, to ensure that they accept funded places and have availability for your child using these funded childcare hours. Not all nurseries accept children using this funding, with many nurseries at capacity or over subscribed as a result of the rollout.

With demand higher than ever, it is advised that you apply for a nursery place before your need for the childcare kicks in and remain in touch with the nursery as you approach your child’s enrolment.

Find out availability at your local My Ohana nursery by getting in touch with us directly.