Childcare: Fees and Charges

(asked on 16th March 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average annual cost of childcare for households with (a) one child, (b) two children and (c) more than two children (i) under the age of two and (ii) between the ages of two and five; and what recent steps she has taken to improve access to affordable childcare.


Answered by
Claire Coutinho Portrait
Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
This question was answered on 24th March 2023

The department does not estimate the average annual cost of childcare in the way the question has set out. The reporting year 2021 ‘Childcare and early years survey of parents’ incorporates a breakdown of weekly childcare spend at family level, which includes families with 1, 2 or 3+ children, and also at child level, including child age. It is also the case that some parents use formal childcare in term time only (38 weeks) whereas others use it year-round.

In the Spring Budget announcement of 15 March 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children, and the economy. By 2027/28, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.

The reforms include:

  • Providing over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to fund 30 hours of free childcare for children over the age of nine months
  • Investing £204 million from September 2023, rising to £288 million in 2024-25 to uplift the rates for existing entitlements
  • Increasing the supply of wraparound care through £289 million start up funding
  • Attracting more people to childminding through an up to £7.2 million start up grant fund
  • Giving providers more flexibility by changing staff-to-child ratios to 1:5 for two year olds in England
  • Launching a consultation on further measures to support reform of the childcare market, to explore further flexibilities for providers

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