Funded childcare for working families in England

The government provides financial support with the costs of childcare for children from nine months until they start school. Eligible working families qualify for 1,140 hours of funded childcare a year (this is inclusive of the 570 hours under the universal 15 hours entitlement).

The hours are commonly taken as 30 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. The hours can be stretched over more than 38 weeks (but they cannot be condensed into a period shorter than 38 weeks), subject to agreement with the childcare provider.

The funded hours must be used with an approved childcare provider, which means they must be registered with Ofsted or with a registered childminder agency.

Who is eligible for the extended entitlement?

To be eligible for the working families entitlement a person (and their partner if they have one) must be in “qualifying paid work.”

A person is considered to be in “qualifying paid work” if they expect to earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at the National Living Wage (for those age 23 and over) or the applicable National Minimum Wage rate (for those aged under 23). However, if a person (or their partner) has an adjusted net income of over £100,000 they are not eligible for this entitlement.

In some circumstances, a person can be considered to be in “qualifying paid work” even if they do not meet the earnings threshold:

• An employed person is not required to meet this requirement during any period in which they are in receipt of benefits in connection with sickness or parenting (such as maternity leave, maternity pay, maternity allowance, or statutory sick pay, among others). Where this only applies to one parent in a couple household, the other parent must meet the earnings criteria.
• A couple can also be eligible if one of them is paid or entitled to specific benefits related to caring, incapacity for work or limited capability for work, and their partner is in “qualifying paid work.”

A person is not treated as being in “qualifying paid work” on the basis that they are in full-time education. See the Library’s casework article for information on childcare support for students.

A child becomes eligible for the entitlement at the start of the term after they turn 9 months. Parents and carers can apply for the 30 hours of childcare from when the child is 23 weeks old.

More detailed information, including on exemptions to the earnings requirement, are provided in statutory guidance published by the Department for Education. The detailed rules are set out in The Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022.

How can the entitlement be delivered?

Whilst encouraged to be flexible, it is for individual providers to decide when to offer the funded hours within parameters set out in statutory guidance These are (paragraphs A1.43 and A2.4):

• no session to be longer than 10 hours
• no minimum session length
• not before 6am or after 8pm
• a maximum of two sites in a single day

Children should also be able to use the funded hours in continuous blocks and providers should avoid artificial breaks in the day (such as over the lunch period).

Can the provider charge any additional fees?

The funded entitlements must be delivered completely free of charge and providers are not permitted to charge top-up fees. In other words, providers cannot charge parents for the difference between their normal fee and the funding they receive for the entitlement.

Childcare providers can charge for lunch and consumables (such as nappies), but parents should be provided with alternative options if they do not want to pay (such allowing the child to bring in a packed lunch).

Further information is provided in the Department for Education’s statutory guidance for early education and childcare (paragraphs A1.32-A1.44). In February 2025, the DfE updated the guidance, partly to try and make the position on additional charges clearer. The updated guidance states that charges for meals, consumables and additional services must be voluntary, and providers should have a policy on offering alternatives to extra charges.

The guidance also includes a new paragraph stating that local authorities should work with providers to ensure their invoices are broken down separately. Local authorities should ensure itemised invoices are in place by January 2026. The items on the invoice should consist of (paragraph A1.36):

• the government-funded entitlement hours
• additional private paid hours
• food charges
• non-food consumables charges
• activities charges

More information on the updated guidance can be found in section 2.1 of the Library briefing on paying for childcare in England.

Parents may also choose to purchase additional hours on top of the funded entitlement hours. Where a parent chooses to do this, they do so at the provider rate, and this is a private matter between the provider and the parent.

What if someone is not eligible for the working families entitlement?

It may be possible for someone to still access funded childcare if they are not eligible under the working families entitlement.

All three and four-year-olds in England are eligible for 570 hours of government-funded childcare a year. The entitlement is commonly taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year but can be stretched over more than 38 weeks. It is sometimes referred to as the “universal entitlement”. The universal offer is available from the term after a child turns three, regardless of parents’ income or work status.

Additionally, some two-year-olds are eligible for “15 hours of childcare” if certain conditions are met, including if their parents receive specified benefits, they are a ‘looked-after’ child , or they have an education, health and care plan. This is sometimes referred to as the “disadvantaged two-year-olds entitlement”.

There are also other ways to access support with childcare costs in England, such as through Tax Free Childcare or Universal Credit, which is covered in the Library briefing on paying for childcare in England.

Further reading

Further information on the childcare entitlements, and other sources of support with childcare costs, is available in the following sources:

• House of Commons Library briefings on paying for childcare in England and expanding government-funded childcare in England
• The government’s childcare choices website
• The GOV.UK webpage on Free Childcare for Working Parents
• The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on early education and childcare and operational guidance for local authorities and providers.