Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the threshold level for eligibility for (a) 30 hours of free childcare and (b) tax-free childcare on working parents who earn between £100,000 and £125,000.

The government is committed to delivering the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer so that from September 2025 eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns 9 months old to when they start school. Accessible and high-quality early education and childcare is a crucial part of giving every child the best start in life, boosting children’s life chances and giving parents work choices.

To be eligible for the working parent entitlement, parents will each need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£9,518 per year) and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish. The income eligibility criteria are the same for Tax-Free Childcare.

The £100,000 level was chosen to correspond with Income Tax thresholds and be easily understandable for parents, and only a very small proportion of parents (3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. There are no current plans to change the income threshold for the working parent entitlement or Tax-Free Childcare.

The government is committed to managing public finances in a responsible way by targeting support with childcare towards those who need it the most in order to work. These are the parents for whom childcare support makes a bigger difference to their ability to work, given that childcare costs make up a bigger proportion of their earnings.

However, the universal 15 hours of free childcare offer remains in place for all parents of 3 and 4-year-olds, regardless of parental circumstances, including those who earn over £100,000.

Parents can find out about the government-funded support they are eligible for via the Childcare Choices website: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.