Help with children's costs

Help with the cost of childcare

You might be able to get Tax Free Childcare, a certain amount of childcare hours or tax credits for childcare This ranges from up to £2000 for each of your children to £4000 per year if your child has a disability.

Tax Free Childcare

Tax Free Childcare helps with the cost of childcare, such as childminders, nannies, nurseries after school clubs and play schemes. Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme for you to benefit from Tax Free Childcare.

Whether you qualify may depend on:

• if you’re working (employed, self-employed, or a director)

• your income (and your partner’s income, if you have one)

• your child’s age and circumstances

• your immigration status

Read more on Tax Free Childcare on the Government website

Free education and childcare for children age 2

You may be able to get free education and childcare if your child is 2 years old.

You qualify if you:

• live in England, receiving certain benefits or in certain circumstances

• have a child aged 2

Read more about free education and childcare for 2-year-olds on the Government website

15 hours a week free childcare for 38 weeks (ages 3 and 4)

If you have a child aged 3 to 4, you can get free childcare for up to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year.

You qualify if you:

• live in England (similar schemes are running in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)

• have a child aged 3 or 4

Read more on how to qualify and if you live in another part of the UK

Read more about 15 hours free childcare for 3 and 4-year-olds on the Government website

30 hours a week free childcare for 38 weeks (ages 3 and 4)

You may be able to get up to 30 hours of free childcare a week, depending on your income.

Whether you qualify will depend on:

• whether you live in England

• your child's age and their circumstances

• whether you're working

• your immigration status

• your income

Read more about 30 hours free childcare on the Government website

Universal credit childcare costs

Universal credit is a payment to help with living costs. It is replacing several other benefits, including Child Tax Credit.

You qualify if you are:

• in paid work

• starting a job in the next month

If you live with a partner, you both need to be in paid work unless your partner is unable to look after your children. For example, they have a health condition.

There is no minimum to the number of hours you work. You must be doing paid work. So, volunteering and only getting money for expenses do not count.

Read more about Universal Credit for childcare on the Government website

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a payment for children with care needs or problems getting around. These should be more than those of a child of the same age without a disability.

Your child qualifies for DLA for children if they:

• are under 16 - if over 16 they must apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• have problems walking or need looking after

• live in England or Wales, a European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland when you apply (exceptions include family members of the Armed Forces)

• have lived in Great Britain for at least 6 of the last 12 months, if over 3 years old

• are from another country and are living in a house for a period of time (habitually resident) in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands

• are not subject to immigration control

Read more on what to do if you live in Northern Ireland

If your child currently lives in Scotland, you need to apply for Child Disability Payment instead.

Read more on what to do if your child lives in Scotland

Read more about Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children on the Government website

School and education costs

There is support available to help you with school and education costs.

Care to learn

Care to Learn is a scheme that can help with the cost of childcare while you study. It is available for publicly funded courses in England. The courses that are included are those in:

• schools

• sixth forms in schools

• sixth form colleges

• other colleges and learning providers, including Foundation Learning

• your community at Children’s Centres

To qualify for Care to Learn, all of the following should apply to you. You have to:

• be a parent under 20 at the start of your course

• be the main carer for your child

• live in England

• be a British citizen or have a legal right to live and study in England

• do a course that qualifies

• use a childcare provider that qualifies (such as an Ofsted registered childminder or nursery)

Read more about Care to Learn on the Government website

Learner Support

Learner Support can help with costs if you are doing a further education course. It can help to pay for things like:

• accommodation and travel

• course materials and equipment

• childcare - if you qualify

• a laptop and wifi

To qualify, you must be:

• 19 or older

• studying for a qualification at level 3 or below

• in financial hardship - your learning provider might ask for proof that you’re on a low income

To qualify for childcare costs, you must be 20 or older. You can apply for Care to Learn instead if you're 19.

Read more about Learner Support on the Government website

Childcare grant

A childcare grant can help with the cost of childcare while you study. You don't have to pay it back. You have it on top of your other student finance.

To qualify for the grant, you must meet all of the following:

• you're a full time higher education student

• your child must be under 15, or under 17 if they have special educational needs

• you get undergraduate student finance based on your household income, or qualify for it

• you’re not getting a Postgraduate Loan

• you’re a permanent resident in England

• the children in your grant application rely financially on you

• your household income is less than £20,107.23 - if you’re applying for 1 child

• your household income is less than £28,914.47 - if you’re applying for 2 or more children

• your childcare provider is on the Ofsted Early Years Register or General Childcare Register

• if your child has a carer at home, the carer can’t be a relative and must be registered (check with Student Finance England)

• neither you or your partner are claiming Tax Free Childcare, the childcare part of working Tax Credit or Universal Credit

• neither you or your partner get help with childcare costs from the National Health Service (NHS)

 A Childcare Grant isn’t the same as 15 or 30 hours of free childcare. You can’t use the grant to pay for those hours.

Read more about a Childcare grant on the Government website

Where to get advice

You can get help and advice on benefits from the following people:

• a hospital or community social worker - they can give you advice on benefits and help you deal with debts

• a welfare rights adviser at a hospital

• Citizens Advice - their advisers can help with filling out benefit forms

• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provide its service through Jobcentre Plus offices. They deal with benefits for people who are unemployed or who can’t work because of a health condition or a disability

Contact Jobcentre plus

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, the Department for Communities deals with benefits and pensions. For Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and Income Support in Northern Ireland, you need to contact your Jobs and Benefits office.

Contact a Jobs and Benefits office

Macmillan Cancer Support

Macmillan Cancer Support provides support and guidance on how to deal with the financial impact of cancer.

You can contact their team of money advisers (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm) on 0808 808 0000.

Visit the Macmillan Cancer Support website

More information

If you have school age children, you may also be able to get help with costs for school uniform, meals and transport. The help you can get depends on your individual situation and where you live in the UK.

Contact your local council for information on the help that might be available.

• For England, visit gov.uk

• For Scotland, visit cosla.gov.uk

• For Wales, visit wlga.wales.

• For Northern Ireland, contact the Education Authority in your region