How Working Parents Can Apply for Free Childcare
Working parents in the UK can now get 15 or 30 hours of free childcare for children aged 9 months to 4 years old. The amount of free childcare you can get will depend on various factors such as your child’s age, your working status, your income, and your immigration status.
This Pacific Prime UK article will discuss how working parents in the UK can get 15 or 30 hours of free childcare, including considerations such as application, eligibility, income, and residency status.
Application
Working parents can apply for free childcare on gov.uk. The following are the documents required for the application.
- Your national insurance number (or, if you’re self-employed, a unique taxpayer reference).
- Work starting date or the date you’re due to start working.
- Details regarding any government support or benefits you receive.
- Your child’s UK birth certificate reference number (if any).
You should be able to find out your eligibility right away, though the processing time for your application will take up to 7 working days. After your application is approved, you will then get a code to submit to your childcare provider.
In addition to submitting the code to your childcare provider, you will also need to submit your child’s birthdate and your National Insurance Number.
Your childcare provider will then process the code to provide your government-funded childcare place within your area.
Eligibility
Working parents can get free childcare for their children ranging from 9 months to four years old if they live in the UK. The amount of free childcare they can get will depend on the factors below.
- Your child’s age and circumstances.
- Your working status
- Your income
- Your immigration status
Your Child’s Age & Circumstances
The number of hours of childcare you can get will depend on your child’s age. For instance, if your child is 9 months to two years old, you can get 15 hours of free childcare per week. Meanwhile, if your child is 3-4 years old, you can get 30 hours of free childcare per week.
Do keep in mind that you will not be eligible for free childcare if your child doesn’t live with you.
On the other hand, if you foster your child, you can get free childcare if you work, provided that you’re paid for work outside of your role as a foster parent and your adjusted net income is under GBP £100,000.
Your Working Status
Working parents can usually get free childcare if they and their partners (if any) are either working or starting a new job, on sick or annual leave, or on shared parental, maternity, parental, or adoption leave.
If you’re starting a new job or on a shared parental, maternity, paternity, or adoption leave, the date you start or resume working will affect when you can get free childcare, as outlined below.
| Work starting or resuming date | When you can get free childcare |
| May 1st – September 30th | Term starts on or after September 1st |
| October 1st – January 31st | Term starts on or after January 1st |
| February 1st – April 30th | Term starts on or after April 1st |
If you aren’t working, you may still be eligible for free childcare if your partner is working and you’re on carer’s leave or if you get any of the following:
- Incapacity benefit
- Severe disablement benefit
- Carer’s allowance
- Limited capacity for work benefit
- Contribution-based employment and support allowance
If you’re self-employed and started your own business less than 12 months ago, you can earn less but still be eligible for free childcare for working parents.
Your Income
In the next three months of resuming existing work duties after taking a leave or starting a new job, you (and your partner) will need to earn at least:
- GBP £2,380 before tax if you’re 21 or over (GBP £183/week).
- GBP £1,788 before tax if you’re 18-20 (GBP £137/week).
- GBP £1,331 before tax if you’re 18 or an apprentice (GBP £102/week).
Your Immigration Status
In order for working parents to qualify for free childcare, you (and your partner) must have the following:
- National Insurance Number
- British or Irish citizenship
- UK settled or pre-settled status indicating you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years (or if you’ve applied and are awaiting a decision).
- Permission to access public funds (your UK residence card will indicate if you can or can’t access public funds).
Conclusion
In conclusion, provided you meet the eligibility criteria in one way or another, you can gain access to 15-30 hours of childcare depending on your child’s age. Even if you don’t work or you’re a foster parent, you can still access free childcare in the UK as long as you meet specific requirements.
As an experienced international health insurance broker and employee benefits specialist, Pacific Prime UK has helped expats and local citizens seek out suitable health insurance plans that match their budget and healthcare needs.
Whether you’re an expat parent or a local parent in the UK yourself, we’re more than happy to help you find the right health insurance plan that will meet your needs.
What’s more, if you secure health insurance or employee benefits solutions from us, we can also help you with completely impartial advice at no additional cost. If you have any further questions, please get in touch with us or get a free quote for plan comparisons.
He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts, Media & Communication major (concentration: Creative Content) from Mahidol University International College (MUIC). During the compulsory major elective period in the summer of 2021 and voluntarily during the summer of 2022, he also interned as a video and photo editor at Mbrella Films.
He has experience working as an English Content Writer at a real estate buying/renting/selling platform in Thonglor. There, he crafted company blog posts on a multitude of topics. Topics include market trends, legal issues and disputes in property businesses, financial guides, expat guides, home insurance, home decoration and maintenance, and weekly real estate news quick-recaps. Occasionally, as part of the blog-writing process, he would also translate existing Thai blogs to English.
In his free time, Guy enjoys doing scriptwriting and storytelling for comic strips, watching movies, and listening to music (particularly film scores).
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